A Hard Won Love
by lovingwhatido
Summary: Paily's story "off-screen" (since they don't get enough screen time). It starts with 3x01 when Emily shows up at Paige's door that night. Paige and Emily will be dealing with the drama of Rosewood and 'A' through out and show the progression of their relationship and with other characters of the show.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: During "That Night" of 3x01**

Paige is watching Black Swan by herself in her living room, relaxing on one of the last nights of summer before school starts up again. Twenty minutes into the movie, she hears footsteps on her porch.

"What the hell?" she mumbles, craning her head towards the door then pauses the movie to listen closer.

Her parents aren't home for another couple of hours and she isn't expecting anyone to show up at her house at 11 at night. She sighs and gets up to go check it out, just in case.

"Emily?" she excitedly says when she sees Emily sitting outside on her porch. Her stomach starts fluttering; a feeling she thought would go away without seeing her all summer.

Emily stumbles when she stands and tries to walk towards Paige. "Oh shit," Paige catches her before she falls over. "Are you drunk?" she laughs and secures her arm around Emily's waist.

"Yeah…I was drinking at Spencer's with the girls and they just couldn't keep up with me," Emily half slurs out and Paige can smell vodka thick on her breath.

Paige laughs as she helps Emily inside, "It's great to see you, Em. I didn't know you were back. But…what are you doing here?"

Emily relaxes against Paige when she shuts the door behind them, "I missed you and wanted to see you." The words are still slightly stuttered but Paige can make out every single word.

Her heart beats faster and a smile tugs at the corner of her lips. Emily missed her and wanted to see her. She has wanted to hear that for so long, after losing her to Maya last year because she didn't fight hard enough for Emily and come out sooner; she had thought she lost Emily for good. She has dreamt and hoped for the day that Emily would show back up into her life like this. But, she can't get her hopes up when Emily is so drunk.

Emily wraps her arms around Paige and pulls her close. "I've missed you too," Paige whispers and she feels herself start to melt into Emily's arms.

She starts getting nervous at how close they are and Paige thinks she imagines Emily's eyes flickering towards her lips. It's her mind playing tricks on her, filling her with too much hope.

But, Emily leans in and presses her lips to Paige's, her heart immediately starts pounding in her chest, she isn't sure if this is real or just a dream. Emily keeps kissing her softly as her hand cups Paige's cheek.

Paige knows that she needs to stop it but her body won't physically let her as Emily's intoxicating lips keep urging her on. A vodka flavored tongue pushes into her mouth and Paige tightens her arm still around Emily's waist. This has been Paige's dream for months, minus the drunkenness and vodka tasting mouth. Now, Emily is here, kissing her, she's really here.

Emily breaks the kiss, ending Paige's dream and leaving her gasping for air. They stare at each other for a minute then Paige gets Emily to sit down on the couch in the living room."How about some water?" Paige asks, thinking of Emily's well being. Emily just nods in response.

"I'll be right back," she smiles and runs a hand over Emily's arm.

She smiles to herself as she fills a glass of water in the kitchen. The kiss replays in her mind the whole time, still not believing that all of this can really be true. Her smile falters when she walks into an empty living room.

"Em?" she calls out and turns the corner to see her front door wide open. She walks out and glances around her front yard and the road in front. No Emily in sight. She grabs her home phone when she walks into the house and immediately calls Emily's number, no answer.

Paige is worried, knowing how wasted Emily is. But, she knows Emily probably ran back to Spencer's, she hopes. As she flops down on the couch, Paige covers her face with her hands, trying to wrap her mind around what just happened. She eventually flips the movie back on to try to clear her head but all she can she is Emily's face, their arms around each other and Emily kissing her. A kiss that she has been dreaming about ever since Emily said she just wanted to be friends last year, when Paige was too scared to come out. Now, maybe she has another shot at being with Emily.

Finally, her eyes become heavy and sleep overtakes her with the movie still playing in the background. She hold her phone in her hand as she sleeps, incase Emily called or texted her if she needed help.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Still during 3x01**

Since that night two days ago, Emily has ignored all the texts and calls that have come in from the girls. She feels guilty about everything. It's her fault. If she hadn't been so drunk, they wouldn't be in this mess and Emily wouldn't be beating her head against a wall, trying to remember all the details of that night.

Emily squeezes her eyes shut, trying to remember anything from that night and she grows frustrated when she can't remember anything. All that fills her mind is her summer in Haiti. Night after night, partying and drinking. That's how she has gotten so good at drinking, so she thought. She drank all summer to numb her feelings of losing Maya.

It didn't work. Tears start to brim her eyes and she clutches the clothes that she's unpacking. She's still hurt and angry about everything that has happened to her and the people she loves.

She knows that she needs to talk to someone.

Nine unread text messages and five missed call notifications appear on her phone, she sighs. Emily can't talk to the girls about it; they would be so disappointed in her.

She scrolls down to Paige's contact then pauses; she wants to call her, she has always had a way of making Emily feel better. But, she can't do that to Paige, they said they would work on being friends and Emily can't talk about her feelings for Maya and the suffering that the loss has caused her. That's unfair to Paige and won't help their new friendship territory that she has been looking forward to working on and rediscover.

Instead, she types a text, ' _Hey, can you meet me at the Brew later_?' to Toby. Emily has always felt a connection with Toby and he has been such a good support system for her the past year. He was one of first people to know about Maya, when he saw the pictures from Noel's party in her lab book, that A had planted. 'Different is good, I like different,' Toby's words from last year ring in her head and Emily smiles softly to herself, they weren't even really friends at the time and he had a way of making her feel more at ease with herself.

 ***** Bleep* ' _Yeah, of course. Meet me there at 5_?'

Emily smiles, ' _See you then_.'

On her way home, Emily feels a little more relaxed after venting to Toby about the summer, Maya, everything. He always seems to understand her and ease her concerns, she's always been extremely thankful for their friendship. He kept assuring her that the girls would not be disappointed with her if she told them about the summer. After the other night, they might be disappointed in her. The guilt starts to creep up on her again.

As she approaches her house, she stiffens and feels her heart sink when she sees a squad car in front of her house. "Oh my god. They know," she says to herself. Her heart sinks even further when she thinks about the girls, feeling even guiltier that the police are probably cornering them too. She forgot her phone on the way to the Brew; she has no idea what is going on with them. Emily takes a deep breath after she parks the car then rushes inside.

"Emily?" her mom calls out from the living room. The two officers sitting across from her stand when she enters the house.

"We just have a couple questions about the night Alison DiLaurentis grave was dug up," one of the officers starts.

Emily's mouth goes dry and her palms starts to sweat, "stick to the story" she says in her head.

"Sure," she says quietly and takes a seat next to her mom in the living room. Her mom places a consoling hand on her leg before she leaves the room. Emily repeats the story of that night to the officers. They respond by saying, "It is just routine," before they get up to leave.

Her mom shuts the door behind them and turns to Emily, "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"Yeah, mom," she nods weakly.

"You told them the truth, that's all that matters. Do you need anything to eat?"

Emily shakes her head, "I ate with Toby and I'm getting pretty tired. I think I'm just going to shower and go to bed."

Her mom smiles, "Okay. Just let me know if you need anything."

"I will, thanks Mom." Emily heads up stairs, thinking about how far her mom has come over the past year with her sexuality. Her mom tried so hard to get along with Maya after she came back from True North; she just wishes they had both gotten along with each other in the end. It even starts to upset Emily that Maya didn't even try to make amends with her Mom after everything.

She breathes in hard, trying to hold back the thoughts that still hurt and make her heart ache.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Paige has been watching her phone since that night. That night Emily showed up on her doorstep and kissed her. Much to her dismay, there has been nothing from Emily since. No texts. No calls. Nothing. But, with the news of Alison's body being dug up and stolen from her grave that same night, she isn't that surprised. Emily has probably been overwhelmed with her friends; she can't imagine how they must feel. Hopefully, seeing each other at school will give them the opportunity to talk.

A smile forms on Paige's face when she thinks of seeing Emily at school today. Their first day of senior year, the thought gives her encouragement to push herself out of bed to start getting ready for school.

Butterflies flutter in her stomach as soon as her eyes catch Emily in the hall with her usual group of friends. Paige tries so hard not to stare, not wanting Emily to feel weird or uncomfortable. The last thing she wants to do is completely scare Emily off.

The girls start to walk towards their English class as Paige shuts her locker. She leans slightly against her locker and glances Emily's way, hoping to catch her eye. But, Emily doesn't even acknowledge her as Hanna continues to chat her ear off. Paige's heart drops, she sighs and hangs her head then turns to shuffle to class.

Maybe she doesn't remember or worse…she doesn't want to remember.

Emily sees Paige at the end of the hallway during passing period and she makes another mental note to call or text her soon. Even though they agreed to only be friends last year, she misses Paige. She has always had a way of making Emily laugh and smile, something that she never would have expected until their date last year at that karaoke bar. The memory makes her smile; no one has ever pulled her up on stage like that and has gotten her to sing in front of strangers.

Her mind tries refocuses to Spencer rambling about Garret, "He has to know something about that night, Em. We just need to pull it out of him."

"I can't focus on that right now, Spence. I have to focus on these make up tests that I need to do so I can officially pass junior year," her tone is harsher then she intended. It's the first day of senior year and the stress is already eating at Emily; there are so many make up tests that she needs to do in order to account for her extended absence after Maya's death last spring.

Spencer sighs then pauses, "I know, Em. I'll figure out something. We just need to figure out what happened that night."

Emily nods, knowing Spencer isn't going to let up, "Yeah, I'll see you at lunch."

Spencer turns the corner and heads the opposite direction. Emily tries to stop all the possibilities of what could've happened that night over take her mind. The night still hasn't been put together completely, she's still missing some pieces and there is so much lost time that she still hasn't been able to account for.

The next morning, Paige dives into the water, the familiar cool water wakes up her body. She starts easy during her warm up, letting her body wake up and her muscles loosen.

However, her mind doesn't need to be woken up, its been running laps by itself, thinking of Emily and that kiss. Her heart immediately sinks at the thought of no contact from Emily since that night. The frustration and hurt fuels her quickened pace in the water. Grabbing the edge of the pool, Paige takes a deep breath and shakes her head, trying to get rid of the thoughts of Emily. She knows it's useless. She tried all summer to get Emily out of her head. For God's sake, she even tried to date Shana. There was nothing there. No spark or connection like she feels with Emily. Shana was nothing but a substitute, even when she kissed her, all she could think about was Emily and how it felt to kiss her. Such a waste of three weeks, Paige thinks to herself.

She pushes off the edge of the pool, knowing she has to get back to her work out. Scouts are going to be everywhere this year. It's a huge year for her and Emily.

Emily flops face first on her bed, emotionally and physically drained from the day.

A is back.

The mere thought of A, makes Emily cringe and want to punch the wall. She and the girls thought this was over and they were free once Mona was locked up in Radley last spring.

Clearly taking Maya away wasn't enough. Emily doesn't know how much more she can handle. The only two girls Emily has ever really loved are dead. The night had been a set up and Emily can only remember a stupid blue car and the top closing.

What makes her cringe even more is the fact that Mona's lair was missing the next day from the Lost Woods Resort when the girls went back after Maya's body was found. She understands why they didn't tell her until now, she still wishes they still had. The return of A would be a little less surprising. Emily's mind spins off to all the possibilities of who A is and what they can possibly want this time.

' _Mona played with dolls. I play with body parts._ ' The text engraved in her mind. There is a new A. The familiar anxiety starts to creep back in.

A feeling she hasn't missed.

"Apparently Emily Fields freaked out in Mrs. Montgomery's class today and ran out," Noel Kahn laughs as he leans back in his seat in class.

Paige feels her heart sink as she hears Noel and Ben laugh about it behind her.

"She's been freaking out ever since she dumped me for a chick. I knew there was something even more wrong with her," Ben chuckles bitterly with Noel.

A rush of anger flashes through Paige, she balls her fists and clenches her jaw. She wasn't Maya's biggest fan; out of pure jealousy and wanting the best for Emily but for Ben to say something like that was incredibly insensitive given the circumstances.

"Why don't you shut your mouth, Ben," Hanna slams her hands on his desk when she overhears him and Noel, "You're just pissed because you weren't good enough for Emily and are probably even more pissed because she's got more game than you, clearly."

Paige turns her head slightly to see Ben roll his eyes at Hanna then look away in frustration and embarrassment. As soon as Noel starts laughing at Ben, Hanna turns to him with daggers in her eyes, "As for you, Noel, you have no idea what you are talking about. Emily has been through a lot, so I suggest that you shove it up your ass." Her voice has risen in volume tremendously by the end.

Some "oohs" can be heard through out the classroom once everyone has turned their direction. "Miss. Marin, do we have a problem?" Mr. Ashtein asks sternly and crosses his arms.

"No, we don't," Hanna, says with a little sass to her tone as she takes the sit in front of Paige and immediately pulls out her phone when the teacher turns his back.

Paige tries to focus in on her Spanish class because its not her strongest subject. But, her mind is worrying about Emily; she has had a rough five months. Emily didn't even come to school the last couple of months after Maya was killed. What could have possibly sent Emily off like that in class?

The ringing of the bell is the most relieving sound Paige has heard all day, she throws her books in her bag and slings it over her shoulder.

Hanna is the first one out of the classroom and Paige immediately spots her heading towards the other girls of her group. They huddle together immediately, in what seems to be a deep discussion. A distraught look on Emily's face tugs at Paige's heart. She sighs and studies the changing expressions on her face. She has to stop herself from marching over there and hugging Emily, wanting to be there for her and showing her how much she cares. Just like she promised at the Masquerade Ball. The longer the silence continues, the more worried Paige gets that the kiss has ruined their chances at being friends.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

 **2 days later**

Emily rummages through her purse, desperately trying to find her phone as she walks quickly through the halls and pushes through the school's front doors.

"Emily?" Ezra gently puts his hands on her shoulders to slow her down. "How did the test go?" He asks, when Emily doesn't even look up at him when he stops her.

"Um…I did my best…I have to go now," Emily replies shakily and pushes past Ezra to walk quickly across the street. Her mind is frantic, thinking about the part of that night she just remembered.

"Emily? Are you okay?" Ezra calls out after her and remains standing in front of the school with a puzzled expression.

She ignores him and starts typing a text to the girls about her flashback during the exam. Her hands are still shaking as she anxiously waits for replies. The image of Jenna doing her hair in the front seat of that car is all Emily can think about.

Spencer is the first to reply, _'I'm on my way to visit Garret right now. Talk tomorrow?'_ Emily groans in frustration and starts typing a response back but Hanna's text interrupts her, ' _I can't, Caleb is on my case about visiting Mona right now.'_

"Dammit," Emily mutters to herself, frustrated that none of them are available to talk about it. She glances back down at her phone, no text back from Aria either.The new memory of that night bounces around in Emily's head, creating new possibilities that further increase Emily's anxiety. More importantly, if this is true, why would Jenna be driving?

Since none of the girls are available, she wants to call Toby or Paige but she knows she can't. For one, Paige is completely unaware of the situation that she is in right now and if they are going to be friends, it's going to need to stay that way. Toby knew of the old 'A', aka Mona but they haven't told anyone since they have started receiving texts again and no one else knows about that night. But, since Emily was drunken mess that night, she fears that other people might know more than they should.

The next morning, Paige walks into the locker room at a little after 7 am, to get a couple of laps in and to wake herself up before school starts. She hears someone doing laps in the pool, its unusual to hear someone in the pool this early besides her. No one else likes to wake up that early, either does Paige but she enjoys the privacy in the morning because it allows her to be alone with her thoughts in the pool. Plus, she needs the extra practice to be ready for the scouts this season and to keep her dad happy.

After she's changed, she smiles when she recognizes the familiar strokes moving through the water. As graceful and smooth as she always has, those strokes are recognizable anywehere. Paige jumps in the pool, a couple of lanes over from Emily. Wanting to be close, but not too close. She starts to feel hopeful as she slowly moves through the water during her warm up.

Maybe this will be their chance to talk. It's their first time alone together, without masses of students between them. Maybe that's what Emily has been waiting for, she tells herself. Her heart starts beating faster as she moves quicker through the water; the kiss and the long awaited conversations starts running through her head.

She grasps the end of the pool in hopes that the brief pause will let them make eye contact to start a conversation. But, Paige's heart sinks when she spots Emily walking away from the pool with a towel wrapped around her. A disappointed sigh escapes Paige's lips as she leans her head against the edge of the pool.

Maybe, Emily is really avoiding her. Paige's heart clenches at the possibility, still hoping that it's not true.

"Hey Spence, sorry I was just doing some laps at school. Got here really early, couldn't sleep last night," Emily's voice pauses and Paige listens in closer for any hints to the incident in Mrs. Montgomery's class a couple days ago.

"Yeah, I do remember something. But, I want to tell you guys together because it's important," Emily's voice drops in volume with a serious ring to it.

"I'm just going to shower quick. I'll meet you in front in like fifteen minutes." The phone conversation ends when Paige hears Emily's locker shut, the sound echoes through the silent locker room. Paige can't help but wonder what Emily means by everything. Emily was here bright and early because she couldn't sleep; clearly something is worrying her enough to keep her up. What could've Emily have forgotten that is so important and turns her voice incredibly serious?

Paige hangs her head and bites her lip; she misses being apart of Emily's life, even if it is just as friends. She wants to know what can possibly be worrying her so much and wishes she could make it better for her. As she said at the Masquerade Ball, she really cares for her and will be here for her for whatever she needs.

For a minute, Paige thinks about getting out of the pool and waiting in the locker room for Emily, to remind her of her promise, hoping that it wasn't forgotten.

She shakes her head, knowing that she shouldn't. She can't keep pushing. Taking a deep breath, Paige pushes off the wall hard and starts up where she left off. Trying to clear her head of Emily as she glides through the water.

Before last period starts, Paige starts to lose focus as she takes her seat in her trig class and gazes out the window. It's not assigned seating, so Paige is relieved to be able to sit in the back of the class and doze off when cosigns start to really bore her.

"Hi, I changed schedules and need to transfer into this class. Can you sign this?" The familiar sweet sound of Emily's voice causes Paige to break out of her daze and she watches Ms. Pert sign Emily's transfer sheet.

"There is no assigned seating in my class, so just take a seat anywhere," Ms. Pert hands Emily her sheet back and points to various open seats in the class.

Butterflies start to flutter lightly in her stomach as Emily turns to walk to find a seat. Emily hardly even looks up when she goes to find a seat, she goes quickly to a seat a couple of rows away from Paige and is glued to her phone until class starts. Paige sighs softly as her eyes shift Emily's way through out the class, a reflex that she can't break. Her dark curls fall perfectly over her bronzed shoulders; she is easily the most gorgeous girl in Rosewood. Paige was always confused why everyone in Rosewood would drool over Alison when Emily Fields existed.

The class starts shoving their books in their bags before the bell even rings, everyone is anxious to get out of last period and get on with the rest of their day. A familiar brunette causes Emily to look up and she opens her mouth to say, "Paige". But, she glances down briefly as her phone buzzes in her hand to see another text message from Hanna, most likely about Lucas. Emily looks back up to see Paige has already left the class. How did she not notice Paige when she came into the classroom? She would have sat next to her immediately and been happy that she has a friendly face in the class.

Later that night, Emily leans against the pillows on her window seat and listens to Hanna's attempt to useless attempt to defend Lucas on the phone.

"Caleb said he will talk to Lucas," Hanna sighs into the phone.

"Good. Maybe he knows something," Emily replies, placing her English notebook in her lap, knowing she won't get anymore studying done as long as Hanna is on the phone.

"I don't think he knows anything. He is harmless," Hanna states with a defensive tone creeping back into her voice.

Emily rolls her eyes; "He tried to set you on fire, Hanna. I don't think that's harmless."

"It was a trashcan, Emily," Hanna clarifies, trying to underplay Lucas's actions, again.

"Still there's something going on with him. I just want to find out what really happened that night, its still driving me insane," Emily tries to divert their conversation in another direction.

Hanna sighs empathetically, " I know, Em. We will figure it out, I promise. Caleb will try to find out what he can from Lucas. I just don't think he is involved but he might know something that could help."

Emily nods, more assurance to herself that they will figure out what happened to her that night.

Hanna changes the topic, "Anyways, I can't go to that Katy Perry movie anymore. Caleb says he has a surprise for me that night and that's the only night he can do it apparently. Do you still want the tickets?"

Emily pauses to think, "Yeah. I do. I think I'll ask Paige if she wants to go." Paige would definitely want to go to the Katy Perry movie and it will give them a chance to get caught up on everything that has happened since last spring.

She can hear Hanna smile into the phone, "Paige, huh? Like a date?" The hopefulness and excitement shine through Hanna's voice.

"No, as friends. I haven't talked to her in a long time. It would give us a chance to catch up," Emily corrects Hanna and brushes some strands of hair out of her face.

"But, you guys like secretly dated before she came out, didn't you?' It is phrased more of a reminder rather than a question. Reminding her that she had told the girls about her and Paige dating last year before Maya was killed.

"Yes, but that was before…Maya," Emily surprises herself when she hardly stumbles over Maya's name anymore, "I don't think I'm ready for anything like that."

"I know, but we want you to be happy, Em. I think Maya would want that too."

Emily smiles slightly, knowing Hanna has the best intentions for her, "I know, but it's not like that with Paige now. I told her that I wanted to be friends at the Masquerade Ball."

Hanna sighs in defeat, but Emily knows that it won't last long with Hanna when it comes to her love life, "Okay. Okay. I'll see you tomorrow though."

"Night, Hanna," Emily ends the call and puts her phone down. The moon shines brightly through her window, she leans her head against the window as her eyes wander the streets of Rosewood, wondering if A could be out there right now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **2 Days Later**

After school, Emily grabs books out of her locker as she prepares for interview questions in her head.

"Hey, Em," Aria interrupts Emily's internal practice, standing to the side of her locker and holding the strap of her purse with one hand. "Do you want to come with me and Hanna…" She pauses to glance around the hall way then leans forward and whispers, "To spy on Jenna to find out what that note meant?"

Emily closes her locker then turns to look at her, "I can't. I have an interview at The Brew. They called me earlier and wanted me to come in as soon as possible."

"Oh. That's great! I didn't know you were looking for a job," Aria smiles softly.

"Yeah, I need to pick up some extra money after everything that has happened. Plus, I want to save up a little more spending money for school next year." Emily starts walking with Aria through the slowly emptying hallways of the school.

"I could probably use a job too and save up for next year," Aria sighs then nods her head understandingly, "You'll have to let me know how it goes."

The front of the school is crowded with students still filing out of the building to go home, Emily stops to turn to Aria and smiles, "I will. Let me know what happens with the Jenna thing. I'll call you or Hanna when I'm done."

"Sounds good. Good luck, Em," offering her a smile and light touch to her arm, before walking away.

Emily heads the opposite way towards The Brew and returns to her internal interview practice, wanting to be prepared for any questions that are thrown her way. In the distance she sees Paige riding away on her bike, reminding her that she still hasn't called or texted her. Emily's mind keeps getting preoccupied with people like Jenna and events of that night that are still unsolved. Sometimes she misses having a normal teenage life.

Her nerves start to pick up a bit, as she gets closer to The Brew. She hasn't really done this before, the whole job and interview thing is still new to her. Swimming and school have been her entire life. Now, she might have to learn to balance all three in her life, plus the demands of 'A'.

After the interview, she sees a missed call from Spencer and four texts from Hanna and Aria about spying on Jenna. She immediately dials Spencer back, most likely she will need to anxiously ramble about Jenna or a new crazy theory.

"I'm coming to get you right now," Spencer says abruptly when she picks up the phone on the first ring.

"Um…okay," Emily scrunches her face, confused, "What's going on?"

"Hanna and Aria are following Jenna, who got into a cab," Spencer answers quickly and impatiently, the same tone she gets when she is going into detective mode.

Emily ends the call when she sees Spencer's car speed around the corner to The Brew then squeals in front of her. "Where are we going?" Emily asks when she jumps in the front seat.

"I don't know, but we need to follow them now," Spencer raises her voice as she speeds off and Emily hastily buckles her seatbelt, knowing they are in for a ride.

 **The Next Day**

"Have you seen this, yet? Jason DiLaurentis is asking for $50,000 for Alison's body," Paige hears her dad say to her mom as she heads downstairs for breakfast.

"That poor family…I can't imagine. They have already been put through hell and back over this last year. Hopefully Garret Reynolds gets put away for this and that other girl who was killed," her mom finishes as Paige walks into the kitchen, she greets Paige with a warm smile, "Good morning sweetie."

"What's going on with Alison's body?" She asks, trying to get into the conversation and wanting to know for Emily's sake. Her dad answers her by pushing a flyer across the kitchen counter. A $50,000 reward for Alison's remains is stamped across the flyer. 'Wow', she mouths silently to herself then shakes her head, still in disbelief that someone out there would actually steal her remains. As much as she hated Alison for torturing her, this is just plain sick.

"Rosewood just isn't as safe as I thought. Two girls dead in the past two years," Her dad states bitterly as he sips his coffee.

"But…Garret is going to go away for this, right?" Paige glances at both of her parents, looking for answers and hoping that Garret will be behind bars to make Rosewood safe once again.

"Hopefully," her dad starts as her parents share a worried look, "But Veronica Hastings just announced she is defending him and we know that she's one of the best in the business."

"What?" She nearly yells out of shock.

Her dad shrugs, "I'm just as shocked as you are. It seemed her daughter was very close with Alison."

Paige shakes her head in disbelief once again, "They were. I just don't understand…Emily, Spencer, Aria, Hanna and Alison were all best friends. Why would she do something like to Spencer and her friends?"

"I don't know. He seems guilty to me. The evidence seems to be pointing straight at him," he puts down his coffee then glances at his watch, "I got to go. Have a good day at school, Paige." He leans over to kiss her mom's cheek then heads out the door to work.

Paige sits next to her mom at the kitchen table, "I just don't understand," she starts, still dumbfounded. "Maya was Emily's girlfriend and Garret killed her too, right in Emily's backyard."

Her mom rubs her back gently, "How's Emily doing?"

She shakes her head then focuses her eyes on the table, "I don't know. We haven't really had the chance to talk since she got back from Haiti." Since Paige came out last year, she slowly became more open with her mom about her past with Emily. Except for that night Emily showed up here a couple weeks ago.

A gentle smile forms on her mom's lips, "She's probably really overwhelmed with everything that has happened with Alison and now Maya. But, you should talk to her. I'm sure she could use a friend right now."

'Friend', Paige laughs silently in her head.

"Yeah, but I got to get to school, mom. I'm going to practice after so I'll be home at around six or so," Paige stands up from the table and grabs her bag.

"Okay, have a good day at school," her mom says as she heads out the door.

 **2 days later**

Emily picks up the phone to dial Hanna as soon as her shift is done at The Brew.

"Hey Em, I thought you were at work," Hanna answers with almost emotionless tone when she picks up the phone.

"I was at work. I'm off now," Emily pauses, "Is everything okay?"

Hanna sighs heavily into the phone, "I just had a fight with Caleb."

"Can I come over to talk about it?" I have something to tell you also."

Hanna smiles slightly, "Yeah, that would make me feel better."

Emily searches through her bag to find her car keys, "I'm just leaving work now. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Ten minutes later, Emily knocks on the Marin's front door, Hanna greets her with a weak smile and frustration fills her eyes. Emily leans forward to wrap her arms around Hanna, "Are you alright?" she murmurs.

"Yeah," Hanna starts softly as they pull apart," We just had a fight about Mona…again"

Emily flashes her a confused look as she follows Hanna up to her room and Hanna catches her expression but pauses until she closes her bedroom door behind them. "Caleb went to visit Mona without me and he is the one that she freaked out at and lost her visitation privileges. Then he told me to stay away from Radley. But, I can't because we need to figure all this out and I can't tell him why I need to keep visiting her." A heavy breath escapes Hanna's mouth after she finishes her quick rant and she gently slaps her hands against her thighs.

"Do you know what they fought about? Emily asks as she takes a seat on Hanna's bed.

"Caleb told Mona to not mess with me pretty much because he think she still is," Hanna flops down next to her, not looking at Emily.

Emily places a comforting hand on Hanna's, "You know he meant well and was just trying to protect you."

"I know…" Hanna sighs and continues to stare straight in front of her, "It's just frustrating, you know?" She turns back to face Emily with irritation evident in her eyes.

"I know," Emily nods, "You are trying to protect him too, by not telling him about this new 'A'. As far as he knows, he probably thinks Mona is still the only one messing with us. It's going to work itself out Hanna, don't worry."

Hanna shakes her head, "I hope so because this is killing me…. anyways, you said you had something to tell me?"

"Yeah, Maya's cousin, Nate, showed up at The Brew looking for me."

"What?" Hanna questions, vaguely confused and stunned, "Is he from around here?"

"No, but he is starting at Hollis this semester…"Emily trails off as her eyes focus down on Hanna's bed, "He asked if we could meet."

Hanna studies the conflicting emotions on Emily's face, "Do you not want to meet up with him?"

Emily shrugs, "It just caught me off guard. I've been trying to move on from everything and put all that behind me."

"This might help give you some closure or it might make you feel better in general, you never know. I don't think it hurts to give it a chance," Hanna advises, her eyes not leaving Emily's face.

"That's true, maybe I will then. It's just weird…"

It does feel weird; Maya never talked that much about her family, especially a cousin Nate was never mentioned.

Hanna reads the slight pain that still flickers across Emily's face when she thinks about Maya, "I know, Em. You'll get there."

Emily just nods in response, she has heard that so many times and she knows she will "get there" because she is doing a little better everyday. Hopefully spending time with Nate will help her go forward instead of backwards. Covering the pain and emptiness with drinking and partying is not something that Emily wants to relive again. Especially after the most recent incident.

"Have you talked to Paige?" Hanna tries to hold back a hopeful smile but Emily can read her tone and the smile that she is desperately trying to hold back.

Emily shakes her head, "No, I've been meaning to call her or talk to her in class. But, my mind is always getting distracted by all these things in my life."

"So…you haven't asked her to the movies yet then?" Hanna keeps pushing Emily with a playful tone and nudging her slightly.

Emily rolls her head to shoot a glance at Hanna, "No, but I will ask her to go this week." She pauses then catches the smirk that forms on Hanna's lips, "As friends," Emily emphasizes again.

"Sure," Hanna mutters under her breath and rolls her eyes.

Before Emily can respond, her phone buzzing on the bed cuts her off and 'mom' flashes across the screen. "I think that is my cue to get home, I'm guessing."

"Okay," Hanna nods as Emily moves towards her bedroom door, "Let me know what happens with Nate and Paige," the grin returns on her lips and Emily rolls her eyes again in response before heading down stairs.

"Hey mom. I stopped at Hanna's on the way home. I'm just leaving now," Emily explains on the phone as she walks out the door and hears Hanna lock it behind her.

"Oh okay, I was just checking in because I didn't hear from you after your shift ended."

"Sorry, Mom. Hanna just needed to talk and I needed to tell her that Maya's cousin, Nate. He showed up at The Brew today looking for me,"

"Maya's cousin?" Her mom questions with a shocked and concerned tone on the phone.

Emily starts her car; "I'll fill you in on that when I get home. I'm on my way now."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much to those who have been reading my story and reviewed it! It is really appreciated. This is my first fanfic so I am glad there are people who are enjoying it :)**

 **Chapter 6**

 **2 Day Later**

Paige slips on her running shoes when she gets home from school and immediately heads back out the door to go for a run. Running is almost as relieving as swimming is; there is something about it that helps Paige focus in on her thoughts then let them go.

She pushes her ear buds in and cranks up her routine work out music and starts out with a light jog. The sun feels great on her face; the temperature is perfect and warm. Something she will miss when Rosewood starts to head into fall and winter. That's why she has her eyes set on schools like Stanford, if she gets lucky and get out of the brutal winters on the east coast.

The thought provides her a little encouragement as she picks up her speed, starting to block out her surroundings and thoughts until she spots her, walking gracefully down the streets of Rosewood. She slows down a bit, not wanting to bump into her because she is almost certain that Emily is avoiding her at this point.

Her fists start to ball involuntarily when anger flares through her as she watches a guy talking to Emily and they walk into The Grille together. She doesn't even know why she's angry but she is. _Who is that?_ Paige thinks to herself. He definitely doesn't go to Rosewood and she's fairly certain she has never seen him around town. Rosewood is a town of less than 8,000; most faces on the street become pretty recognizable and his face is not.

The anger turns to curiosity; she picks up her pace to a light jog again and redirects her path so she can glance in The Grille. Emily and this guy look as though they are getting into a deep conversation at the table. This shouldn't bother her so much, Emily is gay, and she knows that for certain, aside from her dating Ben when she was in the closet. She sighs, she knows she just misses Emily and misses the way they can laugh together and spend time together, even if it is just as friends. She's just jealous of these people in Emily's life that can sit across the table from her and just hear about her day and be the reason for the beautiful smile that always seems to light up her eyes.

 _Is she even thinking about that night?_ The anger, frustration and hurt start to return as the familiar thoughts start to swim back around in her mind. _Does she remember?_ From Emily's behavior, she is unsure if she doesn't remember or she doesn't want to remember the kiss. It still feels like a stab in Paige's heart when she thinks of that possibility.

Paige tries to make the thoughts stop. But, she can't. Her mind always wanders back to it, no matter how fast she runs or how hard she swims, she can't get away from them.

 **A couple of days later**

Spencer paces back and forth, anxiously, in Emily's room while Emily and Aria sit on the window seat together, listening to Spencer vent and ramble.

"I wonder what that PI can possibly have on Melissa to make her look so guilty that my mom would take on Garret's case," Spencer runs her fingers through her hair then continues her frustrated hand gestures.

"She was in Ali's room that night," Emily points out to Spencer, reminding her of the video that they saw of the night of Ali, the night she was murdered.

"Yeah, Spence, who knows what she's capable of. She did fake a pregnancy for months and no one caught on. I mean, who does that?" Aria adds and Emily nods in agreement, both having lost more trust in Melissa as more events of the past are being uncovered.

"But, we are sure Garret did it! He is locked up, the police caught him and all the evidence points to him," Spencer states in her confident, yet frustrated voice and she picks at the side of her nails worriedly.

Emily looks down at her feet as she gently chews on her lip with her two front teeth, "Then who is this new A? If Garret is locked up and Mona is still in Radley."

Aria glances at Emily then at Spencer, "He obviously has help, Ali's body is gone and Mona is clearly not texting us from Radley. There has to be someone on the outside to be able to do all of this."

"I wish Hanna could still see her and help us get to the bottom of this," Emily crosses her arms and leans back into the pillows on her window seat with a huff.

Spencer breathes out, "I don't think she will be going anytime soon."

Aria shakes her head; "She was a complete mess the other night. I felt so helpless and responsible. I can't believe 'A' caused a car accident all the way in California. This new 'A' has really stepped up their game from Mona."

"I tried to convince Hanna to still see the Katy Perry movie, that we got tickets for awhile ago but she doesn't want to leave the house," Emily shrugs lightly.

"We need to get her out of that house. Otherwise A is going to use her at her weakest point," Spencer states with concern then finally stops pacing and stands in front of the girls.

Aria nods in agreement with Spencer, "Yeah, we do but Em you should still go to the movie. I know you have been looking forward to it."

"I am, I'm asking Paige if she wants to go…" Emily stops when she senses both of their eager, suggestive eyes on her. Then, Spencer and Aria exchange glances with a smirk.

"Just as friends," Emily attempts to clarify.

"Okay, Em," Aria says with a playful grin, "We just want you to have a fun night and get your mind off things."

A relaxed silence falls between the three girls for a couple of minutes, Emily's mind drifts off to Hanna, feeling terrible that 'A' is affecting her relationship with Caleb.

Aria breaks the silence, "I think we should check on Hanna. I think she could use the company and I want to make sure she's eaten."

Spencer and Emily nod together, knowing Hanna needs to be watched over until she is back up on her feet again and not feeling the constantly guilt over recent events. 'A' caused the accident with Caleb's mom to break Hanna down to make her weak and vulnerable to be an easy target for 'A' right now.

 **Next Day**

Paige is excited and confused at the same time, it's pretty clear that Emily doesn't remember the night they kissed or she has at least moved on from it. Which are both better than the scenario of the kiss ruining their friendship entirely.

Her mind has run over the conversation a million times, trying to figure out Emily's facial expressions or anything that could give Emily's thoughts away.

" _I wasn't avoiding you…maybe I was but it wasn't intentional,"_ Emily's sweet voice echoes in her head.

"What does that even mean?" Paige mumbles to herself for the twentieth time.

Paige starts to get frustrated the more she repeats the conversation; she can't remember any subtle hints that would give her any further insight. At least Emily is talking to her, she's missed that, the way her voice sounds and the way Emily smiles at her. Her heart flutters at the thought. Is tomorrow a date or is it just as friends? It has always been hard to tell with them, it's always been on and off; well that was last year.

She's fairly sure it's just as friends, which causes her heart sink a little. But, it's still time together with Emily, something she has been craving for months now.

Does she bring that night up? Is Emily going to? Paige has no clue how to handle the situation.

Scenarios of tomorrow night bounce around in her head, most draw a smile on her face and butterflies in her stomach. She tosses Jenna's birthday invitations to the side of her bed. Even though she's happy for Jenna, that she has her sight back and all, Paige is shocked that she even received an invitation. They aren't friends. She can hardly remember having two conversations with the girl.

The buzzing of her phone pulls her out of her thoughts. A giddy smile tugs on her lips when she sees it's a message from Emily.

Her heart immediately sinks she reads the message, ' _Might have to cancel tomorrow night. I have to work this stupid party. Do you mind stopping by my place for a bit?'_

A small smile returns to Paige's face as she reads the last line then types a reply, ' _Sure. Are you home now?'_

She taps on her chest, impatiently, as she waits for her phone to buzz again, ' _I just got home from work. You can come over whenever.'_

Emily works now? Little things like this are what Paige has missed, just simply knowing what is going on in Emily's life.

Paige quickly writes a message; ' _I'm on my way now.'_ She hurriedly slips shoes on and heads out the door towards Emily's.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Paige," Emily says with a smile that makes Paige's heart flutter.

"I look forward to seeing you in that tie," Paige jokingly grins as she walks out Emily's door.

"At least one of us is looking forward to it," Emily rolls her eyes, groaning quietly.

"I'll find you tomorrow when I get to The Brew," Paige flashes a final smile at Emily before turning to walk down the street.

Emily shuts the door; the smile never leaves her face. She has missed Paige's sense of humor and the way she makes her smile effortlessly. They have fallen back together so easily, a lot happened between them last year and it worried Emily that their friendship wouldn't be the same and that things would be awkward between them.

She walks back up stairs and grabs her phone off the bed to check the time. A text from Hanna, Aria and two texts from Spencer immediately pop up on her phone. Emily frowns when she listens to Spencer's voicemail. Instead of calling her back, she calls Aria; she needs to tell her about what the photographer said about Lucas at The Brew. It has become increasingly obvious that Lucas was somehow involved that night; they had even spotted Lucas on the streets of Rosewood late that night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Got this one up pretty fast- hope you guys enjoy, I appreciate every single review, follow and favorite. I know we all need some Paily love out there right now. To the most recent guest review- Sara and Emily are the worst! I hope the writers don't make that one last. Until then, enjoy this chapter!**

 **The Next Night**

This is the third time that Paige has changed her outfit already; she looks herself up and down in the mirror from every angle. This outfit is definitely the one. She knows this isn't a date but she still wants to look hot for Emily. Her hands smooth over her vest to straighten out all the wrinkles then she adjusts her hat on the back of her head until it is placed perfectly.

She wishes Emily didn't get dragged to work this party and that their night stuck to its original plan of seeing the Katy Perry movie together. It isn't Emily's fault though, she is still new at The Brew and she couldn't say no to work. The only reason that she is going to Jenna's party tonight is to be able to see Emily still then next weekend they actually get to go to the Katy Perry movie together.

Before she heads out of her room, she grabs Emily's flask from her dresser. Her mind flashes back to the night of Emily showing up at her doorstep, completely drunk from vodka. She opens the top of the flask and can immediately smell the vodka pouring out. The smell intensifies the memories from that night; she can remember the exact taste on Emily's lips and tongue. When Paige was at Emily's house last night, Emily called this flask ' _a mistake'_. She still hopes that Emily isn't referring to her as a mistake as a result of this. The slight possibility causes her heart to hurt. She tries to push the memories and thoughts aside so she can enjoy tonight then she shoves the flask in her vest and she heads downstairs.

"Paige, honey? Where are you going?" Her mom asks, glancing over from the couch in the living room.

Paige spins at the bottom of the stairs to face her mom, "I'm going to Jenna's birthday party at The Brew."

"The blind girl?" She asks, shocked and scrunches her face a bit, "I didn't know you were friends with her?"

"She actually had surgery over the summer and got her sight back," Paige clarifies, "We aren't friends but I wanted to show her some support because its great that she is able to see again. Plus, I told Emily that I would keep her company because she has to work at the party."

A small smile spreads across her mom's lips and she raises an eyebrow, "Emily? Are you two talking again?"

Paige tries to fight the blush spreading over her cheeks and shoves her hands in her pockets nervously, "We are just friends mom. She invited me to the Katy Perry movie but got sucked into working Jenna's party since she's new at The Brew." She keeps her eyes focused on her feet, not wanting to look at her mom in the eye.

"You're blushing, Paige," her mom teases with the grin growing wider on her face.

"I am not!" Paige yells defensively, "I have to go now," she mutters quickly and turns to hide her face from her mom.

"Have fun with Emily!" She teases even more with a soft laugh, " Call if you need anything." Paige shuts the door behind her, happy to escape her mom's teasing and to get on her way to see Emily.

* * *

The next morning, Paige cringes in pain when she tries to open her eyes. It's too bright and her head feels like its about to split in half.

She rolls away from the beaming sunlight then rubs her eyes and temple, trying to fight the throbbing pain everywhere. Memories from last night start to roll slowly back in to her head. Most of it is still blurry. Her fingers brush against the stitches above her eyebrow, "shit," she winces.

The stitches jog the memory of being in the hospital with Emily last night and that guy was there. His name was Nate or something, that part is still fuzzy too. She groans in embarrassment when she briefly recalls a few of the events that led up to her going to the hospital. There are some hazy memories of eating cupcakes then wanting to dance with Emily.

Finally, Paige stumbles out of bed towards her bathroom and leans over the sink to splash water over her face to wake herself up. In the reflection of the mirror, she can see the left over make up from last night and the mascara coating under her eyes. She remembers taking extra time with her make up last night, wanting to look really good for Emily. Instead, she made a total fool out of herself, from what she can remember.

Taking a q-tip, she removes all of the make up from under her eyes. _How did she get drugged? Who would do this to her?_

Paige shuts off the sink and grabs her laptop then types Melizopam into the search bar. One of the first things to pop up is: memory loss when mixed with alcohol.

"Paige?" Her mom knocks quietly on the door before she opens it. She shuts her laptop and looks up when her mom pokes into her room to ask, "How are you feeling?"

"Not that great, my head hurts pretty bad still," Paige croaks out, her voice a little rough and raspy.

"Come down for breakfast and I'll get you some aspirin," her mom whispers and studies her face with concern.

Paige shakes her head, the thought of food makes her feel sick to her stomach, even more than she already is, "I don't really feel like eating, mom. Stomach isn't doing that great either."

"You need to sweetie. I'll make you something small like toast or something. You'll feel better, I promise," she says, leaving no room for discussion. A few moments later, Paige can hear her footsteps heading downstairs.

Paige groans, not wanting to get out of bed and eat or do anything. Staying curled up in bed seems like a much better option. It would also mean that she could avoid questions about last night a lot easier, if she could pretend to asleep the whole day.

A glass of water is already on the table for her when she makes it downstairs. Paige drinks the whole glass at once and swallows the two aspirins that are placed next to it. Her mom kisses her gently on the head and places a plate of toast in front of her.

Paige keeps her eyes on the plate in front of her, trying to avoid eye contact with her mom when she sits across from her at the table. Her mom's questioning and concerned gaze says it all, she knows questions about last night are about to start flying her way. She takes a small bite of toast, it's not as bad as she thought it would be but anything more would make her sick.

"Do you remember anything else from last night?" Her mom breaks the silence between them and her gentle green eyes focus on Paige's face.

"No," Paige shakes her head and doesn't look up at her mom still, "I remember getting to The Brew and talking to Emily before her boss made her grab more food to serve. Then the next thing I remember is being in the hospital with Emily."

She hopes they don't try to blame this on Emily. She's the one person who she knows isn't at fault for all this.

"It was very nice of Emily to take care of you like that. Does she remember anything that might help you put that pieces together?"

Paige shrugs, "I doubt it. She was busy working most of the night. I can ask. I probably made a fool out of myself." She shoves an elbow up on the table and leans against her hand, groaning internally at the thought.

Her mom smiles sympathetically at her, "You weren't yourself though. You were drugged. I'm sure Emily won't hold anything against you, I'm sure she understands, you probably worried her if anything. I'm not happy you were drinking but that's the least of my concerns right now."

"What does dad say?" Paige asks quietly, knowing her father won't be as understanding as her mom has been.

Sighing, her mom leans forward towards Paige, "He's your father and is just as worried as I am. He might have been a little more angry than I was but its just because he loves you and he wants to figure out where the drugs came from."

"It didn't come from Emily, if that's what he is thinking," Paige states defensively because she is sure that he mentioned it last night to her mom, after she was passed out in bed. He sees Emily, as competition on the swim team and that she will do anything to get ahead of his daughter rather than seeing her as a teammate or a friend.

Her mom shakes her head and drops her eyes to the table, "He doesn't actually think that. From what I know about Emily, she's a sweet girl. There are so many possibilities of how it could've happened. We just want to figure it out because that's a bit scary."

"I know, I'll figure it out, mom," she offers her mom a weak smile as she finishes a bite of toast.

"Your father and I are going to Scranton for a couple days, do you want to come with us?"

Paige shakes her head slightly,, "I don't really feel up to going. I'll be fine here."

"Are you sure? We can stay here if you need us to…"her moms' voice is filled with concern and worry.

"Really mom, I'll be fine. I just need a lot of rest. I can take care of myself," she tries to assure her mom with another faint smile.

"Okay," her mom gives in and gives her a weak nod, "Just take it easy for the next couple of days. You can stay home from school, if you want. I'm going to finish getting ready before your father gets home," she leaves Paige alone at the table and heads upstairs to pack.

After finishing the last piece of toast, Paige washes off the plate and heads back up to her room to crawl in her soft bed. Her mind immediately starts swarming to try to remember anything else from last night.

She had so little to drink. No one else at the party was drunk, that she can remember. The only drink that she had was from Emily's flask, the flask that Emily didn't want anymore. Paige shakes her head at the possibility; knowing Emily wouldn't do that to her and that her father couldn't be right about that.

Her mind wanders back to the night Emily showed up at her doorstep. Emily was ridiculously drunk and totally out of it, which is out of character for the Emily that Paige knows. Then her behavior at school after that night, from what Paige could tell, Emily didn't remember that night or the kiss. Possible memory loss.

Everything is starting to come together, she didn't drink anything else, except from that flask. The drugs must've come from Emily's flask; there are no other possibilities. First, the flask drugged Emily then it drugged her.

Paige squeezes her eyes shut and groans when she realizes what this could mean, Emily was not only drunk but she was drugged when Paige didn't stop the kiss. Her heart slowly sinks in her chest and guilt for that night seep into her mind.

How is she going to be able to look Emily in the eye now? She feels even worse now.

Paige rolls out of bed to hop in the shower, she really needs to clear her head. The heat of the water burns her skin, turning it red but it feels incredibly soothing after a minute of adjusting to the temperature. She rests her head against the shower wall as guilt, anger, frustration and a little pain build up as she mulls over last night and the night that Emily showed up here. Feeling worse with each thought.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you to all the new reviews! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying it. If you guys haven't seen season 3 in awhile this chapter takes place right before and during 3x08 which ends with the pool scene. Hope that helps clarify when Paige was drunk at Jenna's and all that fun stuff that happened there. Hope you guys enjoy this one also.**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Next Day at School**

"Have you heard from Paige?" Aria asks Emily as they finish packing their books into their bags.

"No, I texted her yesterday a couple times to see if she's alright, but I never heard back from her. She probably thinks I drugged her," Emily shakes her head in frustration and she leans back against her locker. Worrying about Paige's wellbeing and what she is thinking about her and the drugs.

Aria props one shoulder against her locker as she observes Emily's forehead crease with concern and stress. "Em, I'm sure she doesn't think that. She probably wasn't feeling well and is confused about that night, like you were when you got drugged with that stuff. I mean, you're still confused and we haven't completely put together that night," Aria reminds Emily of the remaining pieces of the puzzle and the fact that 'A' had their hands on her flask. The thought sends shivers down her spine.

"I still can't believe you were drugged that night! When did 'A' even get it in your flask?" Hanna interjects, her eyebrows slightly raised.

Emily shrugs, " Probably before I got to Spencer's…." A distraught Spencer cuts her off and grabs her and Aria's arm, "I need to talk to you guys. Now!" Then shoots Hanna a glare to follow them. Hanna, Aria and Emily trade confused, questioning glances before they follow Spencer into the school bathroom.

"What's going on?" Emily asks with concern as soon as the door closes behind all the girls. Spencer doesn't reply as she checks under all the stall doors to make sure they are alone.

"Yeah, Spence why are you tweeking out?" Hanna crosses her arms, Aria elbows her in the side and shoots her a stare with narrowing eyes that says 'shut up Hanna.'

"Garret's case got thrown out," Spencer shrieks then runs her fingers through her hair anxiously. Then anxiously rocks back and forth on her heels.

"What?"

"How?"

"Why?'

Spencer shifts her eyes between the three girls as they squeal out their reactions in unison. "Jason turned in the anklet we found at April Rose. There were two samples of blood on it; Garrett didn't match either of the samples. He gets set free." Emily swaps puzzled, defeated glances and widening eyes with Hanna and Aria as Spencer reaches in her bag to grab her phone, "Then I get this," Spencer holds her phone up to who the girls the text from 'A' that morning.

Emily inhales sharply as confusion turns into fear and anger, realizing that there is a possibility that Maya's and Ali's killer is still out there.

"If he didn't kill Alison then who did?" Aria probes, eyeing the other three girls, who hold the same confused, anxious expression.

"Yeah, then who killed Maya? Is he being free from that too?" Hurt and frustration fill Emily's voice as her eyes fall to the ground. Since Garret's arrest for both murders, Emily has felt a small sense of relief because she thought she had some closure with that part of her life. But, now she feels sick to her stomach knowing that Garret gets to walk free and that they might not know whom the killer is.

Hanna rubs Emily's back soothingly, "It's going to be okay, Em. They will get Garret or whoever did it and this will all be over." Emily shakes her head, not believing that this will ever be over anymore. It's been over a year since Ali's body was found and the killer is still roaming free. And most likely that person is 'A' and making their lives a living hell every day.

"I'm sure Garret did it, but I walked right into A's trap and now he gets to walk free," Spencer bites her lip and hangs her head in frustration and disappointment with herself. Her eyes gloss over with frustrated tears; she eventually drops her eyes to stare at the ground, not wanting to look at the disappointment on her friends' faces.

" We have all been there, Spencer, it's okay," Aria tries to assure her, giving her a weak smile and a gentle hug that Spencer eventually returns half-heartedly.

* * *

 **Next Day**

Students stream out of the building as Emily watches from the table nearby, her eyes searching for Paige in the crowd. She hasn't seen her in school all week, she even sat and waited next to Paige's usual seat in trig class, it stayed empty the entire period for the last couple of days.

Paige is undoubtedly upset if she has figured out that the drugs came from Emily's flask. Emily shakes her head thinking about it, she feels terrible that this all happened to her. Her texts and calls have gone unanswered, which is uncharacteristic for Paige, she must think Emily did this to her on purpose.

Instead, she makes eye contact with Spencer as she walks down the stairs of the school and she strolls slowly over to Emily, "Hey, are you doing anything right now?"

Emily sighs and her shoulders slump slightly, " No, I was just looking for Paige but I don't think she's at school today," she turns her attention over to Spencer, "I have the night off though, why?"

Still hesitant over the debacle she has caused over the anklet and setting Garrett free, Spencer timidly asks, " Do you want to come over for a bit?"

Her eyes glance one more time at the front entrance of the school before they dart back to Spencer, "Sure, I don't have anything planned." Spencer gives her a nod and a small smile before they turn and walk together to Spencer's car.

Spencer looks Emily's way as she starts the car; "I haven't seen Paige at school this week, either. She's probably just sick. You remember how you felt after that happened to you." Emily's hands fiddle with the seatbelt absentmindedly as she remembers the days immediately following the night she was drugged.

"I still feel terrible though. She hasn't answered any of my texts or calls," she shakes her head as she mutters, "She probably thinks I drugged her." As she pushes her head against the headrest, she shuts her eyes at the memories and the guilt over Paige.

"You didn't know," Spencer reminds her, " And you probably would have never known that you were drugged if Paige didn't drink from your flask that night. And if she didn't tumble and hit her head," she adds with a slight smirk as she turns the corner to pass The Grille.

Emily exhales through her nose, "It's just a matter of getting her to listen to me. I'll probably go over there tomorrow or this weekend sometime and try to explain how this happened to her."

A concerned expression creeps over Spencer's face and her brow crinkles faintly, "Are you going to tell her who drugged you?" The look in her eyes translates to a demanding _you're not going to tell her who did it._

"No," Emily emphasizes loudly, "I can't anyways because that means I would have to explain everything. She would probably think I am completely insane then," she finishes with a half-hearted laugh.

Spencer glances at Toby's house as they drive by, "I'm pretty sure Toby thinks I'm insane or he is onto 'A' again."

Confusion flashes across Emily's face, "Did you tell him about-" Spencer cuts her off before she can finish, "Of course I didn't tell him. He started putting it together on his own because apparently I jump like an insane maniac whenever my phone goes off."

Driving up the familiar Hastings driveway, Spencer shifts the car in park and runs her fingers through her chocolate-colored hair.

"Hanna has already lost Caleb because of 'A' and you have…" Spencer bites her lip before she finishes the sentence, "I don't want to lose Toby too," she croaks out.

"Hey," Emily grabs Spencer's arm, to stop her before she opens the back door, "Toby loves you, if he knows or not, he will find a way to understand. 'A' has taken someone from all of us. I won't let that happen again."

Their eyes hold each other intensely for a moment longer until Spencer nods slightly, " 'A' just takes everything until we are at our weakest." Her voice cracks as she takes a second glance at Emily before she pushes through the backdoor.

* * *

Paige lies on her bed, she's hardly moved in days. But, the days have been filled with awful movies and TV. Her body and mind still haven't totally recovered from Jenna's disastrous party. The first couple days were rough, a splitting headache and constant nauseous.

Now, the worst part is Emily and not wanting to face her. Guilt constantly builds up in her stomach and twists in knots when she thinks about the concerned texts and calls from Emily. She wants to answer her and relieve Emily from worrying but she doesn't know what to say. When the roles were reversed that night weeks ago, Paige was worried sick about Emily and her safety. But, Emily was wasted or wasted and drugged. Paige is pretty sure it's the latter and who knows what Emily got up to when she left her house. Hopefully, she just wandered back to Spencer's. She wants to ask Emily and get some sort of confirmation of what happened that night but that requires Paige telling her everything, if Emily really doesn't remember that night.

She doesn't want to lose Emily and that can be a painful possibility if she tells her the truth. The kiss is still burnt fresh in her mind, like all of their kisses. The one in Emily's car, the one in the parking lot of that bar, the one in the woods, the one in the streets of Rosewood.

Paige isn't very good at being 'just friends' with Emily.

* * *

 **Next Day**

Tears sting in the back of her eyes the whole jog home, Paige has managed to fight them the whole way by concentrating on the way her feet worked against the ground and the gentle breeze on her face. When she opens the back gate, they immediately start streaming down her cheeks.

Emily's face and the way she turned away from her replay in her mind repeatedly. The tears come down faster each time and she swipes at them with her fingers. Emily is upset with her, it's wrong what she did, she knows it and she feels terrible. Paige pulls her knees to her chest as she sits by the pool then buries her face into her knees.

" _It happened that night Alison's grave was dug up,"_ the sentence had given Paige the confirmation that she didn't want to hear. Her heart sank instantly as a mixture of guilt and sadness flooded through her.

Paige had told Emily everything that happened between them that night. It seemed pretty clear that Emily wasn't happy about the kiss and the fact that Paige didn't stop it or tell her sooner.

Paige clenches her eyes shut as tears continue to wet her cheeks. She tries to erase the kiss from her memory to ease her pain but it's useless and impossible.

* * *

A mixture of anger, sadness, hurt and confusion course through Emily's mind; she has no idea how to feel about the conversation with Paige. She needs to go somewhere and clear her head. The vibration in her pocket instantly annoys her and she groans loudly when she sees a text from Spencer blink across her screen. She doesn't even bother to read it; she switches her phone off and hikes off towards the lake house.

In the midst of her hazy drugged night, she had gone to Paige's house and kissed her. Out of all places, that is where she went. _What was she thinking?_ Emily shoves her hands in her pockets as she walks and focuses on the ground in front of her. She didn't even know that she was thinking about being with anyone after Maya. Obviously, she knew she still had residual feelings for Paige but she thought she had mastered pushing them aside to focus on them being friends.

Anger flashes back, Emily bites her lip. _Why didn't Paige tell her earlier? Why didn't Paige stop her?_

Emily sighs; she knows the answer to both of those questions. Paige didn't know. She didn't know. She was drugged; they both thought she was just drunk at the time. Emily also knew that Paige still had feelings for her, that has been pretty obvious for a long time, even when she was with Maya, she knew.

* * *

After talking to Nate at the lake house, Emily knows he is right. When we are drunk our true feelings come out and it shows us what we really want. That's nothing new to Emily; she just needed to hear it out loud. She had shown up right at Paige's doorstep and kissed her without even thinking. The thoughts must have been buried subconsciously in her head. Paige has always been safe and comforting for her, something that Emily needs in someone. Last year, she had always hoped Paige would come out after dating her last year. Then when she finally did, Maya was back in the picture. Things were never quite the same with Maya after she dated Paige; no matter how hard she tried.

At the hospital Nate had asked Emily if Paige was 'just a friend'. Clearly everyone noticed this thing between her and Paige, except for Emily. Her friends with the side eyes and suggestive smiles, they knew. Emily takes a deep breath to compose herself before taking the final steps towards the McCullers' house.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the semi-late update, went on a quick vacation to the East Coast for a couple of days. Anyways, here is chapter 9- you'll start to get lots of happy Paily like we got to see through out season 3. Hope you all enjoy, especially since we missed PLL this week and are still missing Paige during season 6 :(. Again, thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites, you guys are truly fantastic!**

 **Chapter 9**

 **Same Night**

Their feet dangle into Paige's warm pool as they sit close together on the edge of the cement and their fingers lace loosely together. Every so often, Paige peeks down at their hands and smiles, not wanting this night to end. Emily runs her free hand through her soaking wet hair then flashes a flirty smile at Paige, the blush spreads across her face, as her eyes remain focused on Emily. She smiles shyly back at Emily, still in disbelief that Emily is here, looking at her like that.

"So…" Emily nervously breaks the silence and briefly glances down away from Paige, "What does this mean for _us?"_

Paige's heart thuds in her chest at the way Emily emphasizes us. She knows what she wants; something she has wanted for so long now but Emily has always been the one rejecting her. The past rejection has made her insecure, especially around Emily because she has always put her heart on the line, only to be hurt and disappointed in return,

Paige involuntarily drops her eyes, looking away from Emily, timidly, "Whatever you want it to mean."

Emily lolls her head to the side, wanting Paige to really answer, "What do _you_ want?"

A deeper shade of pink spreads further across Paige's cheeks and she dips her head, "You know what I want."

The answer still isn't good enough for Emily; she wants Paige to articulate what she wants. Paige can feel Emily's impatient and wanting eyes on her still, knowing that she expects her to continue. "You. I want you. I want to go on dates with you. I want to hold your hand and kiss you. And I want you to be my girlfriend." A shaky breath leaves Paige's mouth as her eyes close because of the mixture of fear and nervousness that flood through her bones when she finishes.

Emily leans in to softly kiss her, letting her lips move slowly against Paige's. Then pulls away and whispers, "Good because that's want I want too, with you."

All the previous worries flee from Paige's mind then a familiar smile breaks across her face and she can feel her pulse thud harder; she has been dreaming of Emily saying these words to her for years now, even before they briefly dated last year. Emily's smile grows with Paige's and butterflies flutter lightly in her stomach.

Emily sighs softly, she knows she has been here for a while now and it's probably past her curfew at this point, "I should probably be getting home, I don't want my mom to be worrying too badly."

Paige nods gloomily, "I'll get us some towels. Do you need a change of clothes?"

"I'll just take a warm shower when I get home, " Emily smiles at Paige, thanking her for the offer then walks over to her jacket to check her phone. Unsurprisingly, she missed two calls from Spencer and a text from Hanna, asking her where she was and that they needed to talk to her. Emily groans then types a quick text to Hanna, ' _I have been at Paige's. Talk tomorrow?'_

As Emily finishes the text, Paige wraps the towel around Emily's shoulders. "Thanks," Emily grins sweetly at her.

"So, Katy Perry this weekend…." Paige starts nervously as she watches Emily dry off. Her eyes travel around Emily's caramel skin, loving the way the moonlight brightens her features.

Emily tosses the towel through her hair then stops briefly, "Yeah, it can be like our first- official date?" Her eyebrow quirks slightly, thinking of their previous secret dates and how this time it can be so much different.

"Does the Hungry Owl Tavern not count?" Paige smirks playfully and Emily giggles in return.

"That does count and so does that picnic in the woods. But this can be like our first official-official date," Emily pulls her jacket on and steps closer to Paige.

"First official-official date?" Paige raises an eyebrow, mockingly as her eyes hold onto Emily's light chocolate eyes.

"Yes, but it has a lot to live up to after karaoke and all," the two giggle together, remembering that night then Emily glances down at Paige's lips, "But, now I got to go," she pecks Paige softly and gives her a final smile before heading out the back gate.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Paige calls out after her, the big smile stays plastered on her face as she watches Emily walk away.

* * *

 **Next Day**

"I'm coming over right now, Spence. I'll be there in a few," Emily breathes into the phone as she turns her keys in the ignition.

Her mind has been racing the whole night and morning about yesterday's events that had taken a turn that she didn't expect. But, she definitely likes the surprising turn it took. Her heart flutters when the kiss by Paige's pool replays in her mind, everything about it felt so right. A giddy smile starts spreading across her lips; she didn't realize how much she missed kissing Paige.

She knows the girls will be happy for her when she tells them, clearly it won't be a shock to them. They have all been making suggestive comments and hints about Paige recently. The hard part will be filling them in on where she was part of the night that Ali's grave got dug up. She doesn't know how they will react to that, if they will think it's cute or if they will react like she initially did when Paige told her. She sighs, its finally relieving to have all the pieces put together from that night, at least for a period of time she was safe with Paige.

"Hey, Emily," they greet her in unison when she walks in Spencer's side door. Emily smiles at the three girls in the living room. Immediately, a sly smile tugs at the corners of Hanna's lips, "So…Paige's last night?" The glimmer in her eyes expresses Hanna's suggestive and hopeful thoughts. This time, its true.

"Yeah, I was trying to get ahold of you almost all night, but your phone was off," Spencer reminds her with a gentle tone and a small smile as she takes a long sip of coffee.

Emily smiles as she sits down next to Aria on the couch, "There is some stuff that I need to fill you guys in on." The stares on Emily intensify with wider eyes as she finishes her sentence.

"When I went running with Paige yesterday, she told me that I was with her part of that night that Ali's grave was dug up," Emily pauses, trying to ignore the hardened stares but waits for anticipated comments and questions she knows she won't be able to stop.

Aria exchanges a quick slide glance with Spencer, "Why didn't she tell you sooner?"

Emily clearly her throat softly, "Because I kissed her. At the time, she thought I was just really drunk and that I didn't remember the kiss or that I didn't _want_ to remember it. So, she didn't say anything," she takes a quick pauses before continuing, "Then she figured out the drugs came from my flask after Jenna's party and put two and two together then felt pretty awful about everything."

Spencer's mouth is slightly open and her brow creases, processing the information, Then starts drawing road maps and time frames in her head as she squeezes her eyes shut to think, "That means you left my house and went straight to Paige's then you were either at that diner or with Jenna next?"

Emily shrugs, "Paige said it was around eleven when I got to her house and that after she brought me inside and went to get me a glass of water that I was gone when she came back then tried to call me." She runs both hands along her thighs as she thinks, "I don't know which place I went to after that. But, at least I know I was with Paige for some of the time instead of being a drunken-drugged mess somewhere else."

"You were too busy making out with Paige," Hanna teases with a wide grin.

"Hey! She was drugged!" Aria throws at Hanna, trying to get her to stop teasing Emily but she can't help the small smirk that forms on her face as well.

"Is that all?" Spencer asks, with a more serious tone than the other two girls.

"Not quite…" Emily starts and all of them look at her with raised eyebrows and curious eyes.

She takes a deep breath and laces her hands together before she begins, "At first I was pretty angry that Paige hadn't told me everything earlier, including the kiss. After she told me, I hiked up to the lake house to clear my head and I got less angry about the kiss and started to get more confused because I was so messed up at the time. Then at the lake house, I ran into Nate and he said that people drink to cover up what they really want," she pauses to glance down at her hands again as she starts to feel nervous and vulnerable, "The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Paige is what I really want and I just didn't know it because my head was so wrapped up with Maya and 'A'. So, I went back to Paige's and basically told her that. We decided to pick up where we left off last year and try dating again."

Aria rubs her arm encouragingly, "That's great, Em."

The ridiculous grin is already growing wider across Hanna's face with excitement; "You were with Paige the whole night?"

"Not the whole night," Emily rolls her eyes, already knowing where this is headed with Hanna.

"Well?" Hanna leans forward with questioning, impatient eyes, "What happened?"

Emily glances at Spencer and Aria in hopes they would come to her rescue and stop Hanna's prying. But, their eyes were filled with just as much excitement and curiosity.

She sighs in defeat, "We kissed, then went swimming in her pool."

"Swimming?" Hanna wiggles her eyebrows suggestively with a smirk.

"Yes," Emily says sternly, "In case you have forgotten we both like to swim." Then leans back against the couch with a slight huff.

"What happened after swimming then?" Hanna continues to dig determinedly as she leans forward on her hands.

This is exactly why she gets anxious telling them anything about her personal life, especially Hanna, who is sometimes more interested in Emily's love life than she is.

"We didn't have sex if that's what you're trying to get at. We kissed some more, talked then I went home to take a shower and go to sleep," each word is clearly pronunciated to prove her point.

Finally, Spencer starts glaring at Hanna, silently telling her to shut up. Aria glances between Spencer and Hanna to try to detour the conversation another way then smiles at Emily softly, "What we mean is, we're happy for you, Em. We really are."

Emily smiles then brushes a few strands of hair out of her face, "Thank guys, I am happy. But it sounded like you had something to tell me?"

"Yeah-," Spencer begins before Aria cuts her off, "We were just worried about you since we hadn't heard from you."

Emily nods suspiciously at Aria then catches the girls sharing questioning glances with each other. There is clearly something that they aren't telling her.


	10. Chapter 10

**I am so glad so many of you enjoyed the last chapter and to Viva33: don't worry, it will not be ending there- love this pairing and will continue writing. Enjoy this chapter and tuesday's episode of PLL. Until then, happy reading :)**

 **Chapter 10**

 **A couple of days later**

Since Emily showed up at her pool a couple of nights ago, Paige has felt on top of the world. Her heart still threatens to beat out of her chest when she thinks about the intensity of the kiss and Emily's words. She had been so scared that she had lost Emily for good after the disaster in the woods during their run earlier that afternoon. But, somehow everything changed in Emily's mind that led them back together.

Taking a final glance in the mirror, Paige runs her fingers through her hair until it falls just the way she wants it. A smile pulls on the corners of her lips when she hears the doorbell ring. She grabs a black top from her closet and pulls it over her tank top before heading downstairs.

After ringing Paige's doorbell, Emily quickly adjusts her skirt that kept rising higher during the walk to the McCullers's house. Her stomach flutters with butterflies when Paige opens the door with a glowing smile that makes her eyes sparkle and her auburn hair falls perfectly over one shoulder.

"Hey," Paige greets her excitedly and holds the door open for Emily to come inside. As she takes a step inside, Emily presses her lips to Paige's, who puts a hand on Emily's waist to keep her in place then closes the door. They can feel each other smile into the kiss as Paige slowly kisses Emily back. It has only been a couple of days and they have both missed each other's lips so much.

After reluctantly breaking the kiss, Emily smiles sweetly at Paige and whispers, "Good morning, I've missed you."

The words make Paige blush and smile wider, "You need anything to eat or drink before we go to school?"

"I had something to eat before I came here, but we have time if you still need to eat."

"I'm okay," Paige nods, "Let me just grab my bag, that way we can take our time walking to school," she lets go of Emily's waist to run upstairs to grab her school bag from her room.

"Ready?" Paige asks as she reaches the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah," Emily shoves her phone back into her pocket, "Let's go."

Paige locks the front door behind them then sees Emily's hand extended towards her. A smile immediately breaks across her face as she takes Emily's hand.

This is new for them. When they dated last year, Paige wasn't out and they weren't able to hold hands like this. They both hold each other's gaze, clearly thinking the same thing.

Paige is still in disbelief that she is walking through the streets of Rosewood holding Emily Fields' hand. She has dreamt of it for so long, it makes her feel confident and proud to be able to do so.

"What did your friends say when you told them about us?" Paige breaks the comfortable silence they have fallen into. She knows Emily told her friends but she hadn't really gone into detail over texts about all of their reactions.

The teasing, genuine smiles and supportive words from her friends draw a smile on her face, "They're happy for me. They had been kind of bugging me about us for a while. It definitely wasn't a surprise for them."

Paige quirks an eyebrow at Emily and chuckles, " They had been bugging you? How so?"

Emily's cheeks start to redden, "After you came out last year, I told them what happened between us, that we dated a bit. Then I told them I was going to ask you to the Katy Perry movie, Hanna being Hanna immediately started questioning me if it was just as friends. She wouldn't let up then. Eventually, Spencer and Aria caught on but were a little less persistent than Hanna. I guess they know what I was thinking and what I wanted before I did even."

Paige smirks when she imagines the girls teasing Emily about them, "Hanna predicted right though, the Katy Perry movie is a date now." She gives Emily's hand a gentle squeeze and smiles to herself when she thinks about tonight.

As they stop at the crosswalk, Emily turns and pecks Paige's lips softly, "I'm looking forward to tonight."

"Our first date…" Paige smiles sweetly, "In public," she adds, teasing herself a bit.

Emily giggles and nudges Paige's shoulder before they cross the street towards school. The beautiful sound of Emily's laugh makes Paige's lips curl up into a smile and her heart swell in her chest. A couple of heads turn as people see them holding hands, not as many people know about Paige's sexuality because Emily is her first girlfriend that they have seen her with. A group of girls from the swim team are gathered together in a group by the entrance and they all turn their heads to smile encouragingly at them, two of them exchange high fives.

"I was just a little worried that they would be upset the night you were with me and you were drugged," Paige starts their conversation back up, hesitantly bringing up that night.

Emily takes a heavy breath, "I think they were just happy that I was with you and not…" She stops herself, realizing she can't reveal anything else from that night. Paige looks at her with questioning eyes, waiting for her to continue, "doing anything stupid or getting in trouble anywhere else."

They stop by Emily's locker and Paige nods at her, "Did you go anywhere else after you were with me?"

Emily pauses to think of what to tell Paige, not wanting to flat out lie but not revealing anything related to Ali's grave, "Some of it is still a little blurry but I'm starting to put the pieces together."

The bell rings and Emily feels a little relieved, feeling bad and guilty about having to lie to Paige this early in their new found relationship.

Paige frowns at the thought of leaving Emily, "I'll see you later?"

Emily smiles, "I'll see you at lunch." She kisses Paige on the cheek before walking to class. Paige gazes dreamily at Emily as she watches her walk away, doing her best not to stare.

A blonde blocks her view suddenly, her eyes focus on Hanna smirking in front of her, "Glad to see that you love staring at Emily's ass like that."

Paige can feel herself blushing immediately and the words get lost nervously in her mouth which makes Hanna smirk even more, "Come on, we are sitting together in Spanish now that you are dating my best friend."

* * *

 **Later that night**

"What time is it?" Emily breaks the easy, relaxed silence they have fallen into after Paige was able to calm her down and make the tears stop flowing.

Paige fumbles with her phone in her pocket, "It's about 7:10."

"Come on, let's get going to the movie," Emily leans out of Paige's relaxed arms around her then pushes herself off the bed.

"Are you sure? We don't have to…" Emily bends down to brush her lips against Paige's; both of their eyes immediately flutter shut at the tenderness of the kiss. "I want to. You have made me feel a lot better. Plus, I have been looking forward to this movie forever."

Paige grins, "Alright, let's go then."

She follows Emily down the stairs, admiring how her curls bounce around her shoulders with every step. "Hey mom. We're going," Emily calls out when they reach the front door.

Pam Fields appears around the corner to the dining room, "Have fun girls. I'll see you when you get home, Em." She flashes a kind smile at Paige before Emily closes the door behind them.

Butterflies bat around in Paige's stomach as they hop in her car and start to head towards the movie theater for their first official date. Emily's eyes wander over to Paige, admiring how she is dressed for tonight, she looks amazing, as always. But tonight, her hair is pulled back in a way that emphasizes her big brown eyes.

"Em, let me get the snacks. You got the tickets for us!" Paige begs Emily as they walk into the theater.

Emily opens her mouth to argue, but then sighs, "Fine, you can get the snacks if it makes you fell better."

A satisfied smile spreads across Paige's lips when she gets her way, "It does." She intertwines their fingers and pulls Emily with her to the snack counter. " Now, what is your favorite movie snack?"

Emily bites her lip, "Popcorn," then shrugs, "I know it's totally unoriginal and cliché," she mumbles shyly.

Paige chuckles, "It is pretty cliché. But, a large popcorn and drink the split then?"

Emily turns her head to meet Paige's eyes with a flirty smile, "That sounds perfect." Paige's heart thuds hard in her chest at the way Emily's lips curl into that flirty smile with her dazed chocolate eyes.

Once they have their popcorn and soda, they find some seats in the back row of the theater, away from the few people scattered in the front. The memory of her and Maya's first date flickers in Emily's mind. Her heartstrings tug slightly at the memories, and then she remembers her and Samara's first date here, that one was a lot less nerve-wracking. Somehow, this movie theater holds a lot of memories of her first dates.

Gentle brown eyes meet hers and Emily immediately smiles as all those memories fade into the past because she is here with Paige tonight. "You okay?" Paige whispers when she sees the serious expression creep over Emily's face.

"I'm perfect," Emily whispers back, lacing their hands back together. Paige glances down at their connected hands and grins widely.

"Good," she responds quietly, looking back up at Emily before the familiar sound of the movie starting booms through the speakers and the dimmed lights turn off.

When the beginning credits start to roll, Emily reaches over with her freehand to grab a handful of popcorn. A few minutes into the movie, the air conditioning kicks on right above them, blowing freezing air directly onto them causing Emily's bare legs breakout with goose bumps. She rubs them with one hand, trying to warm them up. "Are you cold?" Paige asks quietly when she notices Emily rubbing her legs.

"Yeah, I probably should've changed out of a skirt before we left," Emily mutters as she keeps her eyes fixed on the screen in front of them.

Paige's mouth goes dry when a million thoughts rushing through her head. Making her nervous. Letting go of Emily's hand, Paige pushes the armrest up between them, "Can I?" She stutters nervously.

Emily smiles tenderly at Paige's gesture and the way she is getting slightly nervous then leans into Paige's side, silently answering her question. A content sigh escapes Paige's mouths; she wraps her right arm around Emily to pull her close to her. The cold breeze continues to blow hard on Emily's legs, so she shuffles her legs against Paige's to try to get more warmth.

The close proximity causes Paige's breathing to hitch in her throat and her heat beat to increase. For the last year and even before that, Paige has been dreaming of moments like this with Emily. Her eyes drop down to look at Emily, whose eyes are still glued to the screen; she reaches down to brush some dark strands of hair out of Emily's face.

The sweet gesture catches Emily's attention and she turns to face Paige, their eyes flicker between lips and eyes. Finally, Paige leans in and gently kisses Emily. The simple touch causes Emily's eyes to flutter shut and slowly return the kiss, tasting the salt and butter from the popcorn. Paige puts the popcorn on the ground when the kiss becomes more heated and Emily traces her tongue along Paige's bottom lip. Her lips quickly part and she feels Emily's tongue brush against hers. Emily turns her body to cup Paige's face with both of her hands as Paige runs a hand along her waist to pull her closer. After a few minutes of intense kissing, they break apart, gasping for air.

"I'm not so cold anymore," Emily giggles quietly when she opens her eyes.

"You should get cold more often then, " Paige teases her with a big grin as Emily leans back into her side and rests her head against her shoulder.

"I'll probably get cold again in a few minutes," she replies truthfully with a small, suggestive smile.

"I'm looking forward to that," Paige flirts then runs her fingers up and down Emily's arm, trying to get her mind to focus back on the movie.

* * *

Their hands are intertwined as Paige walks Emily to her door after they get back from the movie; both girls wear a big smile as they steal glances at each other. "I had a really great night, " Emily says softly, stepping closer to Paige to look into her light coffee-colored eyes.

"Me, too," Paige whispers back, placing her hands on Emily's waist then beams brightly at her.

Arms loop around Paige's neck to pull her in for a tender kiss, she hums against Emily's lips and slides her hands further around Emily's waist as they let their lips slide softly together. Emily pulls back and waits for Paige to open her eyes, "Text me when you get home, so I know you got home safe."

Paige shakes her head with a smile, loving how sweet Emily can be, "I will, goodnight, Em."

She plants a kiss on Paige's cheek, "Goodnight, Paige."


	11. Chapter 11

**Here is a long one for you! Hopefully that's a good thing….especially after Tuesday's episode! Ahh that was so terrible! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this one and it brings your Paily spirit up!**

 **Chapter 11**

 **The Next Day**

"How did I get to the diner then?" Emily groans to Spencer, who is picking her food at The Grille.

"I don't know," Spencer pauses with a slight shrug, "Jenna and Noel just said they found you drunk off your ass at that diner. You must've gone there after Paige's. Did she see you leave with anyone?"

Emily shakes her head, staring down at her glass of water as she traces her index finger along the rim of the glass, "She just said I was gone when she came back into the room, then tried to call me to make sure I was okay. But, I didn't answer. Someone must've taken me to that diner. I hadn't even heard of it before."

"Someone from Noel's parties, I bet," Spencer responds before stuffing cheesy fries in her mouth, Hanna nods silently in agreement then steals some cheesy fries from Spencer's plate.

"All I remember is that tattoo and someone writing a note that said ' _I'm sorry I left you.' "_ Spencer and Hanna exchange puzzled looks as Emily mumbles the last part. Those are the only two clues Emily has to work with to solve the final puzzle of that night, she has no idea what that tattoo is or what the note to her meant. Who left her? The only two people, who have 'left' her, are dead.

"Who are they trying to protect?" Hanna interjects, her nose scrunched, as she waves some cheesy fries around in her hand.

Spencer shrugs again, "Themselves?" A short pause, "Or whoever wrote that note to Emily." Her eyes fall on Emily as she finishes the last part of her sentence.

Emily sighs heavily and glares back down at her plate, "We have to figure out who else they are protecting because I'm willing to bet that neither of them wrote that note to me, there had to be someone else there with them."

Seeing Emily's residual frustration, Spencer keeps her eyes softened on Emily, "We will, Em, Those two are definitely hiding something or someone. I don't know what or who yet."

"And whatever or whoever they are hiding, probably broke me and Caleb up," Hanna adds coldly, crossing her arms on the table and staring hard ahead of her, the familiar hurt and frustration glazes over her intense green eyes.

"And drove Toby away," Spencer adds as the corners of her lips tug down into a frown, "I miss him," a sad tone overtakes the anger that has filled Spencer's voice.

Hanna's eyes fall to the table as sadness well up in her eyes, "I miss Caleb, too," she loops her arm through Spencer's and rests her head on her shoulder.

"At least you get to see Caleb," her tone is a little harsh but thick with pain as she stares at the top of Hanna's blonde head, "I don't even know where Toby is," she inhales sharply then glances back up at Emily, "At least one of us is happy." Her tone is lighter and the corners of her lips turn up into a smile for a brief moment.

A giddy smile forms on Emily's lips at the thought of Paige, "I am happy, but you guys deserve to be happy, too. We will get to the bottom of this 'A' so Caleb and Toby can be safe with you guys again."

Hanna unhooks her arm from Spencer's, then leans back in her chair and returns to stabbing at her salad, "How was the Katy Perry movie last night?" A faint, suggestive smirk flashes across her lips when she asks Emily.

"The night started off a bit rocky, Paige walked in on me watching some of Maya's videos on her website. So, we sat for a bit as she comforted me. But, once we got going, the rest of the night was really great," the smile on Emily's face continues growing wider as she recalls the night with Paige.

Hanna and Spencer smirk at each other then turn their attention back to Emily, both with the same glint in their eyes that they always seem to get when Emily expresses interest in any girl.

"I'm really happy that it went so well, I'm sorry that we told you about Maya's website like that, "Hanna says apologetically, " I told you we wanted to wait but…"

"I wanted to know because I know you guys were hiding something from me, " Emily cuts her off more harshly than she intended.

"We just wanted to give you a couple moments of happiness since we don't get many of those," Spencer defends the girls' actions but the vulnerability is visible in her eyes which softens Emily's demeanor.

"I know," Emily sighs with an understanding nod as she glances down quickly, "Just in the future, please tell me because it's not going to make it hurt any less later."

* * *

 **A couple of days later**

Paige chucks her phone at the wall after she sends a text to Emily, telling her she wasn't feeling well. The horrible image of Nate and Emily kissing is burned into her mind; it makes her stomach churn painfully. She punches the wall next to her bed but she doesn't feel the pain that should be there, it's just numb.

Paige falls onto her bed as the tears finally fall down her face. _How could Emily do this to her?_ She is finally happy and had been looking forward to their night together.

Watching a movie with Chinese food while cuddling with Emily had been getting her through her already awful day. Instead, her day turned ten times worse when she saw that disturbing site on Emily's porch.

The tears keep falling. She doesn't know if she should say anything to Emily. She really doesn't want to. She wants to forget it, if she can.

* * *

 **Two Days Later**

Paige sucks in a deep breath, she should just tell Emily everything. Its seems like Emily's friends will keep prying for information about her and it will all get back to Emily either way.

"Em?" Paige leans against the counter in the kitchen as Emily starts washing the tea mugs, "There is something else that I need to tell you about Alison."

"You don't have to, you have already told me a lot tonight and I know it was hard for you to open up like that," Emily says gently and looks at Paige with soft, loving eyes.

Paige breaks the eye contact to stare down at her feet, slightly embarrassed about what she's going to confess, " I know but I want to tell you. I want you to hear it from me and not anyone else."

The familiar insecurity shines across Paige's face; Emily nods then shuts the sink off and steps closer to Paige, "Okay."

Paige inhales sharply, gazing straight head and not at Emily, nervous about what her reaction might be, "When Alison tormented me freshman year, she um faked a note from you to me and put it in my locker."

Emily's brow crinkles, "What? What kind of note?" Shock and confusion mix into her voice, Ali had never mentioned Paige or a note to her when she was alive.

"A note telling me that you had feelings for me and that you always thought of me, " Paige says softly, "But that you couldn't say anything since you had a boyfriend. Then it said if I felt the same way about you, to write back and put the note under a sign in town so your boyfriend wouldn't find out, " she pauses to inhale through her nose and nervously shove her hands in her pockets, " When I did…write back, Alison showed up and took it. She threatened to tell my dad. That's when I really started to feel ashamed of myself, more so than before."

Tears sting in the back of her eyes again, but she's able to fight them this time when Emily brushes her fingers against her hand. "Paige, I had no idea she did that and involved me in all of that, I'm so sorry…" Emily whispers as she moves in front of Paige.

"It's fine," Paige sniffles, "I should've known it was one of her cruel tricks," their eyes finally meet when Paige lifts her eyes back up from the ground. All of Paige's anxieties and fears start to fade away again when the sweet, understanding chocolate eyes bore into hers.

Emily starts figuring out what this means and her hearts starts racing, " How did she know that…"

"That I had feelings for you?" Paige finishes Emily's sentence with more confidence, "I don't know, " she shakes her head and shrugs slightly.

A smile tugs at the corners of Emily's lips and her chocolate eyes beam brighter into Paige, "So.. you had feelings for me all the way back then?"

Paige starts to blush then glances down at her feet, "Yeah…I guess I did and I think Alison figured it out before I did."

Emily takes another step closer to Paige, "Ali had a way of doing that. I can't believe you liked me for that long."

Before Paige can reply, Emily's lips are on hers, kissing her lovingly. One of Emily's hands comes up to caress Paige's cheek. They stay like that for a few minutes, kissing slowly and gently. Enjoying the sweet taste of each other's lips.

The buzzing of Emily's phone on the counter behind them breaks them apart as she reaches behind Paige to see Hanna's picture on the screen. She groans then swipes to decline the call and throws it lightly back onto the counter. "I'm sorry about them," Emily mutters.

Paige runs her hands up Emily's arms, "I know, it's okay. Hopefully they'll come around."

"It's not okay," Emily shakes her head angrily, "I just wish they would be happy for me," tears start to fill the back of her eyes.

"I thought they were…what happened?" Paige looks at Emily with concerned and pleading eyes, she hates seeing the pain and anger in Emily's eyes but she wants to know what happened to make her friends act like that tonight.

Emily sighs, the tears start to fade away as she gazes back into Paige's eyes. It's clear what her friends are up to, "It's complicated," her eyes drop down to the floor as she tries to explain without having to lie or tell the complete truth, "After everything the past couple of years, they don't really trust anyone."

Paige can feel her heart clench slightly at the implication that her friends don't trust her. But, she tries to understand and not let the hurt show on her face. Emily and her friends have been through a lot; they are usually the talk of the school. Most of it she doesn't understand but she knows there is more to the story than she knows. The vibration in her pocket stops her from continuing, she sighs when she sees _home_ flashing across the screen, "It's my folks. They are probably wondering where I am."

Emily nods as Paige holds the phone up to her ear, "Hi, dad. I'm still at Emily's." During the brief pause in conversation, Emily plays with the hem of Paige's shirt between her fingers.

Paige sighs discontentedly at the reply on the phone, hating that she still has to respond to things such as curfew, "Yeah, I'm on my way now."

Shaking her head, Paige shoves her phone in her pocket with a frown, "I gotta go. They want me home."

"I figured, " Emily breathes out sadly and drops the hem of Paige's shirt.

On the way out, Paige grabs her jacket and slips it on, not wanting to leave Emily. She pauses by the front door and finds the familiar brown eyes, "Thanks for tonight, Em. You're the only person I have been able to open up to about this. I'm just sorry that I didn't tell you earlier."

Emily leans against the door, "I'm glad you can trust me enough to be able to tell me all that. I'll see you tomorrow," she pecks Paige's lips and receives a smile in return.

"Goodnight, Em. I'll text you when I get home," she walks backwards down the font steps. After a short time of dating, Paige already knows that Emily likes to know when she gets home.

* * *

 **Next Morning**

Emily grips the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles are completely white. Anger flows through her veins but the hurt and sadness have caused unshed tears to build up in the back of her eyes.

How can they say such awful things about Paige? Accuse her of being 'A'? Accuse her of killing Ali and Maya? They don't know her. She's finally happy after everything she has gone through then they throw this at her. She is finally able to move on after the two girls that she has ever loved have both been killed. The tears eventually fall down her face when she gets inside and out of view of the reporters that have been lining the streets.

She pulls out her phone to call Paige; she needs her right now. But, she only cries harder when she hears her voice.

"Em? What's wrong?" Paige's voice is filled with concern as her heart sinks when she hears Emily crying on the phone.

"I thought that they were going to apologize but they cornered me," Emily finally chokes out as she wipes at the tears streaming down her cheeks.

Paige sighs loudly; she knows that Emily is referring to talking to the girls about how they treated her yesterday. "What happened?" She asks, trying not to let the anger seep into her voice.

Emily clenches her eyes shut, tears fall faster down her cheeks as she replays the morning over in her head, "Can you come over?"

Glancing around the school hallway, Paige inhales deeply, she hates missing school but she can't stand the thought of Emily crying by herself, "I'll say that I'm going home sick. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you soon," Emily ends the call and falls onto her window seat, trying to decide how she is going to tell Paige everything. As dangerous as it might be, she knows its time to tell her about 'A' and explain her friends' absurd behavior lately. She didn't even tell Maya about 'A', but with Paige everything is different. Mona might still be 'A' but they don't know for sure. Maybe there are multiple 'A's. Right now, the pieces of evidence are scattered but for some reason, her friends think they have this new "lead" on Paige.

Paige opened up to her last night about her past. Her heart swells when she remembers Paige's confession about how long she has had feelings for her. Emily had no idea, but she is disgusted that Ali tortured her with it and drove Paige to such a dark place. The thought sends shivers down her spine and a stab in her heart. Ali had such a way of turning people's secrets into their worst nightmares; she had a first hand experience. Now, its Emily's turn to open up to Paige and trust her like Paige trusted Emily last night.

The small smile returns to Emily's face when she sees Paige ride up on her bike, trying to dodge the reporters on her street. Emily wipes the dampness on her cheeks as she walks downstairs. When she opens the door, Paige greets her with a gentle embrace and a soft kiss to the side of her head then lets her lips linger there, "Are you okay?"

"Better now that you're here," Emily whispers against Paige's shoulder, taking in the familiar scent, a mixture of chlorine and coconut.

Pulling back slightly, Paige looks into Emily's reddened, puffy eyes then gently traces her thumb along Emily's cheek, "What happened to make you so upset?"

Emily inhales sharply then drops her eyes away from Paige's; "There's some stuff that I have to tell you for it all to make sense. Let's go up to my room to talk."

Emily's words and demeanor make Paige feel nervous, "okay." She faintly nods then follows Emily upstairs to her window seat. Silence fills the room as Emily tries to gather her thoughts then leans against Paige's body.

"Em?" Paige asks anxiously, the extended silence makes her even more worried.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to think of where to begin," Emily takes a final deep breath before continuing, " About a year ago, around the time Alison's body was found, my friends and I started receiving anonymous texts- they call themselves 'A'. They said things only Alison knew and this person knew some pretty bad things about all of us."

Her fingers draw mindless circles along Emily's arms as she listens to her every word, her mind immediately going to Mona, remembering her being shoved into Radley last spring after harassing the girls. There had been so many rumors, Paige didn't know what to believe, so she tuned it out and was only concerned with Emily's extended absence from school after everything.

"It started escalating pretty quickly with threats that we couldn't ignore and had to comply with because if we didn't, we would be punished. 'A' proved that when they ran over Hanna with a car and put her in the hospital. 'A' put drugs in my medicine and put me in the hospital last year. 'A' has dirt on us that can make us look guilty and use it to frame us. We thought we had ended things when Mona was put into Radley."

Paige chimes in before Emily continues, "Yeah, that's what I heard about Mona that she was harassing you guys with these anonymous texts, I just wasn't aware of the extent of it or how much she really hurt you guys." Her heart aches when she thinks of Emily being put into the hospital because of Mona's psychotic ways. "Has this not stopped?"

Emily shakes her head against Paige, "No, we thought she was the only one. But, we are still getting texts and threats from 'A'. There is either a new 'A' or Mona has help on the outside. We aren't entirely sure" Emily pauses to take a deep breath before continuing to the difficult part of the conversation, " Since everything that has happened, my friends don't trust anyone, like I said last night. So, when Spencer found out about your past with Alison, she immediately jumped to conclusions…"

Anger and hurt course through Paige as she starts to put the pieces together and analyze Emily's words. Her friends think she is 'A' and that she is trying to hurt them. How can they possibly think that?


	12. Chapter 12

**Here is a new chapter for all my fantastic readers out there! Thank you for all the new reviews and follows once again, it always puts a smile on my face when I get those emails! To the review from jhas: your review totally made my day, I am so glad you have ended up liking it and that you think I am "nailing it", I hope I continue to nail it, I will try my best to! This lovely couple deserves so much more time on screen, so does Paige. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter just as much 3**

 **Chapter 12**

In the car, Paige checks the text for the hundredth time, ' _Rosewood Cemetery 10pm or Emily gets hurt- A'._ Her hands shake again but she breathes deeply, to try to calm herself down. She made a promise to Emily, that she would do anything to protect her- she meant it. If anything happened to Emily, she doesn't think she could live with herself. Yesterday in Emily's room, Emily made it clear that 'A', Mona or whoever is serious when it comes to their threats, Paige doesn't want to gamble with those chances.

 _10:00_ flashes on the dashboard of her car, she takes a final deep breath and opens her car door. Heavy footsteps stomp near her car and she spins to see a familiar face, Nate, his eyes dark of determination.

Before she can scream or move, he covers her mouth and nose tightly with a tissue and she struggles against him, kicking and elbowing him repeatedly until she feels herself growing gradually weaker. Eventually, her limbs go limp and her eyes become heavy until they droop closed.

Awhile later, she wakes to find herself being bound in the closet with duct tape around her wrists, ankles and mouth. Her mind is disoriented and scattered. But as her mind begins to wake up, panic starts to consume her when she realizes the possible severity of the situation. _Where is she? How long has it been? What has happened to her? Is Emily okay?_

The beautiful ring of Emily's voice fills her ears, feeling temporarily relieved that Emily appears to be safe and nearby but Nate's deep voice sends Paige panicking again, this time more for Emily's life as she hears his voice rise with threats to Emily. She tries to squirm and scream but the tape over her mouth muffles any attempts. She had shown up at the cemetery at 10 PM, as the 'A' text ordered her to, yet Emily is still in danger.

* * *

 **Next Day**

Paige knocks on the Fields' front door then shoves her hands in her pockets as she waits. Since last night, all she has been able to think about is Emily- the horrible images and sounds forever engraved into her memory. _Nate holding the knife to Emily's throat and the piercing gun shot._

"Hi, Paige," Pam greets her with a warm smile that falters slightly, "How are you holding up?"

"I…um…. I'm getting there," her shoulders hunch forward, "Still in shock, mainly. But, I'm more worried about Emily."

"She's been worried about you, too. You can go up and see her. She can use some company, especially from you," she opens the door wider for Paige to step inside.

"Thank, Mrs. Fields, " Paige attempts to force a smile as she walks towards the stairs.

"Paige," The sound of her name slows her step and she turns to face Pam, "Please call me Pam," she pauses briefly, "Let me know if you girls need anything."

The corners of Paige's lips flip into a small, genuine smile this time, "We will, thank you."

Chocolate, brown eyes are peering around the corner when Paige makes it upstairs. "I thought I heard you," Emily mummers against Paige's shoulder when she runs into her arms.

Paige embraces Emily tightly against her as her head falls into the crook of Emily's neck, "I had to see you. I've been worried."

They pull apart and Emily reaches for Paige's hand to guide her into her bedroom. Immediately, she grabs Paige's face to bring their lips together into a kiss then rests their foreheads together, "I am so sorry you had to go through that because of me."

Paige shakes her head, her eyes slowly opening to look at Emily, "Em, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know who he was."

"I was so scared. I was so scared that he was going to hurt you. When I saw you tied up in the closet, I froze. My heart stopped. I didn't know what to do. So, I ran, hoping he would chase me and that I maybe could get cell service and give you a chance," Emily whispers with a cracked voice as tears stream down her face.

Paige tries to wipe away Emily's tears with her shaky thumbs, "I was so terrified, Em. Then…. when I heard the gun shot," Paige pauses as her lip trembles at the horrifying memory, "I thought he got you. My world stopped." Tears are now spilling down Paige's face,

Emily bites her lip and lightly traces Paige's jaw with her finger, "How did he even get to you?"

"I was on my way to the cemetery because I got…" Paige pulls her phone out her pocket and clicks on the message, "This," she hands Emily her phone. "He just got there first, somehow."

Emily's heart falls into her stomach when she reads the message from 'A' then shakes her head, "I shouldn't' have dragged you into this. It's dangerous."

"I told you, there is nothing I wouldn't do to protect you. I want to be with you, Emily. Even if that means I have to deal with 'A'. It's all worth it." For the first time that morning, Paige's voice is confident and strong because that is the only thing she is completely sure of, that she wants to be with Emily no matter what.

Her heart swells in her chest at the confidence in Paige's words then leans against her for support. The sensation of Paige's fingers drawing light circles on her back soothes her. For a moment, she closes her eyes as she listens to Paige's steady heartbeat; her tears begin to slow down. But, the constant buzzing on her bed, makes her groan and break away from the comfort of Paige's arms.

"Its Spencer, I better get it," Emily grunts quietly. She sniffles and wipes at her damp cheeks with the end of her long sleeve shirt.

Paige nods her head, understandingly, then takes a seat next to Emily on her bed.

"Hey, Spence," Emily picks up the phone.

"Hey…" Spencer starts with a gentle tone, "I just wanted to see how you were doing today."

"I'm doing…" her voice trails off slightly then she looks at Paige with a small smile, "Better, Paige is here right now, which helps," Emily reaches over and puts her hand on top of Paige's.

There is a hesitant pause on the other side of the phone, "How is she doing?"

Her thumb brushes over the back Paige's hand as they hold each other's gaze, "She's doing okay. We're both still shaken up."

"Do you think we can stop by or you guys can stop by here? We would really like to apologize to Paige," a new sincerity rings in Spencer's voice and Emily can hear Spencer making coffee on the other hand.

Emily's smile starts to grow, "Yeah I think that can be arranged. I'll let you know, okay?"

"Okay, yeah. Just text me."

Emily hangs up and turns her body to fully face Paige, "They want to apologize to you."

Her eyes widen with surprise, "They do?"

"Only if you're up to it though," Emily assures her by moving her hand to Paige's thigh and rubbing it gently.

Page sighs, gazing into Emily's chocolate eyes, "Of course. As long as you're there beside me."

Emily smiles with relief that they can start putting this behind them, especially after a traumatic night, "I'll be right there the whole time. I'm going to text Spencer that we are going over there."

After sending the text, Emily puts her phone on her nightstand, "I'm just going to change before we head out," she pecks Paige's lips before heading to her closet.

Paige leans back into Emily's pillows and keeps her eyes fixated on Emily's closet door, "So, we are sure this isn't one of their tricks to trap me as 'A', right?"

Emily can hear the smirk and teasing in Paige's voice as she pulls jeans and a shirt on. "I promise," she smiles as she walks out of the closet, "Are you ready?"

Paige nods then closes the gap between them in a couple of steps to kiss Emily softly, whose eyes flutter close at the sudden contact. When Paige pulls away, Emily beams at her until she breaks out into a blush and dips her head with a shy grin.

"Come on," she whispers as she takes Paige's hand to pull her behind her.

"Where are you girls off to?" Her mom asks from the living room.

"We are just going to Spencer's for a bit," Emily slows down by the living room to answer her mom.

A small, relived smile forms on Pam's face, "That'll be good, for both of you to be out and be with the other girls. Just be careful and call if you need anything. That goes for you too, Paige."

"We will," Emily assures her mom as Paige nods silently beside her.

"It was good to see you, Paige. I'm glad to see you're holding up."

"It was great to see you too," Paige gets out of her mouth before Emily yanks her out the door.

As the Hastings house comes into view, Paige absentmindedly plays with her fingers as her anxiety starts to pick up. Out of the corner of her eye, Emily can see Paige fidgeting nervously; when she parks the car she places a hand on her thigh, "It's going to be okay, I promise." She gently rubs Paige's thigh, trying to ease her nerves.

Paige sighs as Emily cuts the engine then quietly mumbles, "I know," her anxiety already starting to dissipate with Emily's comforting touch. Before opening her car door, Emily leans over and places a quick peck on Paige's cheek.

"Hey Em! Hi Paige…" Spencer greets them as she opens her side door for the girls.

Paige forces a weak smile at Spencer before following Emily to the couch on one side of the room. On the opposite side of the Hastings' living room, Spencer takes a seat in between Hanna and Aria.

An awkward silence falls between the girls as they exchange glances with each other, trying to figure out where to start. Emily slips her hand into Paige's when she notices her nervously fidgeting with her hands once again, giving her a gentle squeeze to remind Paige that she's here for her.

"Paige…," Spencer finally starts and stares at the ground in front of her, " We are so sorry for how we acted and have treated you lately. I have this horrible habit at jumping to conclusions without having all the information…"

Hanna and Aria nod in agreement as Spencer finishes her apology and they both sincerely apologize to Paige before Spence continues. "I know Emily has filled you in on a lot of stuff about 'A'. It's been hard for us to trust anyone and when Cece told me about your past with Alison, I just jumped at it. Something I tend to do a lot…"

"Yeah that is true…you do, do that," Hanna mutters with her normal sassiness and Aria reaches across Spencer to gently smack Hanna's leg and Spencer glares at Hanna through narrow eyes.

"Anyways…I convinced these two," she motions at Hanna and Aria, "when we found that earring in your purse at the trunk show."

Paige glances between Emily and Spencer, her brow crinkling in confusion, "What earring?"

Spencer's eyes widen, feeling as though she has dropped a bomb on Paige but Emily nods at her, signaling she wants to explain to Paige, "You remember how I told you about the night Alison's grave was dug up and 'A' as evidence to make us all look guilty."

"Yeah," Paige answers softly, not knowing where this is headed.

"Before they buried Alison, Mrs. DiLaurentis asked each of us to bury a keepsake in her coffin. Ever since that night her grave was dug up, we have been getting our keepsakes back piece by piece, randomly. Aria had put earrings in that coffin and had one put in her locker and they had found the other in your purse at the trunk show…"

Paige's eyes go wide, she turns to the other girls, "I swear I had no idea…"

Aria cuts her off and puts her hand up, "We know, we have all been there and we should've known that 'A' did that."

Spencer nods faintly, her lips still turned down into a serious expression, " 'A' has a way of planting things to make people look guilty. I fell for the trick…again. I'm sorry, Paige."

"It's okay, really, " Paige assures them with a genuine smile.

"At least 'A' didn't prick you to get your blood or give you a necklace full of teeth like they gave to Emily," Hanna shivers at the memories and subconsciously rubs her index finger.

" 'A' gave you a necklace full of teeth?" Paige shrieks, looking at Emily with her mouth open.

"We still aren't sure if they were real, Hanna, " Spencer tries to argue with Hanna, again.

"Everything else has been real, Spence. Plus, I worked at the dentist. I have told you those are real teeth!"

"Hanna, you worked in the office for like a week! What do you know?" Aria rolls her eyes as Hanna and Spencer start bickering over a beaten topic.

"When did that happen?" Paige whispers to Emily, pulling on her hand to get her full attention as the other three girls are distracted by the argument between Hanna and Spencer.

"One of the first days of school this year. I kind of freaked out during Mrs. Montgomery's class and ran out."

Paige remembers that day clearly when Noel and Ben were making fun of her, "Oh yeah…I heard about that."

Emily immediately starts to blush, realizing she must have been the talk of the school that day, something she has grown accustomed to over the last couple of years, "People must think I'm such a freak."

Paige shakes her head and pulls Emily's hand into her lap, "They don't know you. They don't know what's really going on in your life. You have been through a lot."

When she thinks the other girls aren't paying attention, Emily tilts her head to brush her lips against Paige's but is stop by Hanna shrieking, "Are you two going to make out now right here in front of us?"

Paige turns away, her face bright red, Emily shifts to see the girls with giant grins on their faces. As Hanna opens her mouth, Emily playfully throws a pillow at her from Spencer's couch. Aria and Spencer giggle at Hanna's widened expression, "I didn't even say anything!"

"You were going to!" Emily smirks playfully then re-laces her hand with Paige's.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm starved. I'm thinking lunch at The Grille?" Aria glances around the room with questioning eyes.

"Yes! I am starved," Hanna throws her head back in relief, "I could go for those cheese fries right now!"

"So you don't steal them from me this time?" Spencer crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows at Hanna.

"I had a really rough night, I deserve my own cheese fries this time," Hanna rolls her eyes with a slight shake to her head.

Before agreeing, Emily turns her attention back to Paige, "Is that okay with you?"

"Cheese fries do sound delicious," Paige nods her head in Hanna's direction.

An enormous smile breaks across Emily's face; "Paige and I will meet you over there."

The other three girls are packing their purses as Emily and Paige stand to leave, " Okay, we will see you in a few minutes then, " Spencer glances up from her purse.


	13. Chapter 13

**Happy tuesday readers! I got a pretty long one for you and hopefully it brings you lots of Paily happiness. Still missing Paige terribly on the show but lets not give up hope on her :) Thanks again for the wonderful reviews. Jhas- I love your long reviews, that is truly my favorite part when I post a chapter, I love getting that feedback on so many aspects of my chapter. EP: Your review meant so much to me! I am so glad you are loving in that much and hopefully its helping with the lack of Paily (for the time being)**

 **Until next time, happy reading and enjoy tonights episode 3**

 **Chapter 13**

 **A couple of days later**

Paige checks herself over in the mirror once more, adjusting the flower on her tux then plays with the angle of her top hat until its perfect. Finally, satisfied with her appearance. "Shit," she mumbles to herself when she checks the time, realizing she's already running late to pick up Emily.

"Mom? Dad? I'm going now," Paige yells out as she bounds down the stairs.

Both of her parents appear around the kitchen door, her mom immediately beams when she sees her, "You look great, Emily is going to love it!"

Paige half laughs, "I hope so, this tux was a pain to get together."

Behind her mom, her dad is forcing a smile that doesn't meet his eyes- he wasn't thrilled to hear that his daughter would be wearing a tux, even if its just a costume, "Have fun and be safe."

"I will, I'll try not to wake you when I get home," she quickly slips out the door to jump into the car and rush over to Emily's house.

When her and Emily were discussing going on the Halloween train, Emily insisted that her costume be a surprise and kept saying that Paige would really like it. _Of course she would like Emily's costume, Emily can make anything look amazing._ But, Paige has let her imagination run wild with possibilities; Emily didn't budge when she would try to guess. To even the playing field, Paige gave Emily no hints about her costume of choice.

As soon as Emily opens the door, Paige's jaw drops open and her eyes nearly fall out of her head. She knew she could never be disappointed by Emily's costume but her imagination didn't even come close to the site in front of her. The costume flatters Emily's body perfectly, emphasizing her long, toned legs and revealing a generous amount of cleavage.

"I take it you like the costume, " Emily laughs with a mischievous grin and a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. Then she spins around to give Paige the full view, loving the way Paige's eyes wander over her body in a way that makes her feel sexy and confident.

Paige bites her tongue, nodding slowly and distinctively, then grabs Emily's waist to crush their lips together, "You could say that."

"You look pretty fantastic yourself, " Emily whispers, looking Paige up and down then gently tugs at Paige's coat. The alluring tone in Emily's gestures and voice make Paige's mind go into a daze until she is forced back to reality when Emily's hand slips into hers and pulls them to Paige's car.

Before Paige can start the car, Emily tilts Paige's face towards her with her fingers to kiss her sensually, their lips slowly gliding together. Her tongue briefly sneaks along Paige's bottom lip then leans away before the kiss has a chance to deepen. The teasing kiss leaves Paige with her mouth hanging slightly open and completely breathless as her heart races in her chest.

The whole car ride to The Brew, Paige's eyes drift over Emily's gorgeous, bare legs. She bites her lip, to try to control herself. But, Emily can see Paige struggling out of the corner of her eye, she smirks, satisfied with herself.

"What are the other girls going as?" Paige asks as she parks the car.

"We all said that we would surprise each other," Emily answers when Paige walks around the car to hold her arm out for Emily, who bites her lip adorably then grins widely as she loops her arm with Paige's. "Plus, I was too busy getting this together," she says in a low flirty tone with a lop-sided suggestive smile.

Paige laughs breathlessly, still in complete awe that someone as beautiful as Emily is with someone like _her_. "Are they all going with their boyfriends?"

"I think so, well Caleb and Hanna are pretending not to be together, still. But, I'm pretty sure 'A' is onto them," Emily shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

"Well," Paige starts as they stand in line at The Brew, "They aren't doing a very good job at hiding it. Because they didn't fool me." A smirk slides across her lips before they head into pre-party at The Brew, arm in arm.

* * *

 **Later on the Halloween Train**

Paige wraps her arms around Emily's torso to pull her closer while Emily glides her tongue into her mouth. Their tongues tangle together as Emily loops her arms around Paige's neck and hums soft sighs into her mouth.

Emily slowly turns them around and walks them backwards until Paige's knees hit the bench behind her, taking the hint to sit down. For a brief moment, they break the kiss and Paige gazes up at Emily with her mouth open, mesmerized by the way Emily's dark curls cascade around her shoulders and the revealing cleavage of her costume. Her breath gets caught in her throat when Emily steps forward to kiss her agonizing slowly until Emily pushes her lips apart with her strong tongue then sits down to straddle Paige's lap.

Emily cups Paige's face with both hands to deepen the kiss while Paige places her hands on Emily's hips to steady her. Feeling a burst of confidence, Paige lets her hand trail along Emily's bare thigh, relishing the feel of her unbelievably smooth skin. The touch starts to blur Emily's mind as she feels the electricity and heat of Paige's hand on her, she moves her hands to the back of Paige's neck and subconsciously throws her hips further into Paige, who lets out a silent moan against her lips. She envelopes Emily tightly in her arms to pull their bodies flush together. The buzzing of Emily's phone breaks them out of the moment briefly; Paige begins to pull back, assuming Emily will want to get it.

"Shh just ignore it," Emily whispers before crushing their lips back together, Paige hums happily against her lips in response and continues caressing Emily's tongue with hers. However, when Emily's phone vibrates for the fourth time, they groan in unison and pull apart, Paige moves her hands back to Emily's hips to steady her when she reaches backwards for her phone. "Shit," Emily mumbles in a panic, "Aria is missing."

She gets off Paige's lap and starts straightening herself out. "Well, she has to be on the train though, right?" Paige asks, trying to calm Emily down with a logical point.

"Yeah," Emily nods then sighs deeply, "But we gotta help them." Emily grabs Paige's discarded hat and jacket and tries to put Paige's hat on exactly how it was before then smiles when she looks perfect. She holds Paige's jacket open to help her back into it one sleeve at a time. "There you go, now how do I look?"

"Em," Paige sighs dreamily as she glances Emily up and down, "You look perfect, as always."

A blush immediately erupts over Emily's face at the compliment, "Come on," she says softly and holds the cart door open for Paige.

* * *

 **A couple of days later**

Since the Halloween Train, Paige has hardly been able to sleep; the murder of Garret Reynolds sent her over the edge. Barely over a week ago, the disaster with Nate and the lighthouse happened. Her fears have started to spiral into nightmares and her anxiety has shot through the roof.

The fear in Emily's eyes is still burned fresh into her mind, but the memory of the gunshot is by far the worst. She can still remember exactly how it felt to have her world stop before her eyes and the sharp, sinking pain in her chest-she thought Emily had been killed. But, she wasn't, she had nearly been killed. On the downside, Caleb still has a scar to prove his survival. _If Caleb weren't there, what would've happened to Emily?_ Then the other night, Aria had woken up next to the dead body of Garrett. After she had been kidnapped, drugged, shoved in a box and nearly pushed off the moving train. Emily and the girls saved Aria's life, thankfully but Garret had been murdered on the train. The train that her and Emily were on. _What if 'A' had targeted them instead? What if Emily was in the box instead of Aria?_ Her chest tightens at the thought and very real possibility.

It has been incredibly hard to function normally when her anxiety constantly consumes her. About two nights ago, the nightmares started. Nightmares of these horrible memories and events, nightmares of what _could_ happen. One thing is always the same- _Emily._

The buzzing on her phone causes her to jump out of her skin and faintly shake with subconscious fear of the possible messages that could be awaiting her. Always worrying that its going to be 'A' setting her up for another lighthouse disaster to make her spiral out of control.

Paige feels herself immediately relax and her body un-tense when she sees a message from Emily on the screen instead, _'Can you come over later? I miss you.'_

Paige misses Emily, so much, even though it has only been two days since she has seen her. She wants to see her, go out on a date but, her anxiety overtakes her once again, ' _I can't today. Folks are still freaking out and want me home. I miss you too :(.'_

As soon as she hits send, Paige grows angry with herself. She hates lying and not being able to see Emily. But, Emily likes _strong_ women and right now, Paige isn't strong. She's being pathetic and weak. Emily deserves someone strong and brave, someone to protect her. And right now, she isn't that person and it hurts her so badly. She grabs her knees to pull them to her chest and rest her forehead against her knees, breathing hard and deep.

The thought of 'A' taking Emily away haunts her the most. On the Halloween train, Caleb had given Paige his number and told her to call him whenever she needed him because he understands how she feels. At first, it was a little weird, they had never really talked before, she only saw him in passing with Hanna but he is a really nice guy, they surprisingly clicked easily. She doesn't understand how Caleb and Hanna have pretended to not be together, that would drive her insane if her and Emily had to do that.

* * *

 **3 Days Later**

Paige pants as she comes to a halt in her tracks to try to catch her breath. She frantically looks around her but she sees nothing. Just pitch black and an endless forest.

Her breathing starts to become more erratic and her chest tightens as she begins to panic more. With shaky hands, she pulls out her phone- still no signal. " Dammit," she squeals, biting her lip.

A bloodcurdling screaming pierces the air causing Paige to stop breathing entirely, "Emily?" She screams, starting to run towards the direction of the scream but everything looks the same, she isn't sure if she is even running in the right direction.

"Emily?" She yells urgently, desperately searching around her as she sprints through the woods. Tears of fear brim her eyes, making her vision blurry causing her to stumble on a tree root and fall to the ground.

"Paige?" She hears Emily; she looks around- still nothing except blurred trees and darkness closing in around her. But, her voice is right there.

"Paige?" Her eyes shoot open to see Emily kneeling next to her. "I think you were having a nightmare, are you okay?" Emily brushes the hair out of Paige's eyes as Paige tries to control her heavy breathing.

"I'm o-ok-kay," she stutters, trying to sit up but Emily pushes her back down, gently.

"Relax," she whispers, stroking Paige's hair, "What happened?"

The words get lost in Paige's throat, she can't speak, she doesn't want to scare Emily with her ridiculous nightmares. Emily immediately recognizes the fear and anxiety clouding Paige's eyes, she use to feel that way. She simply nods at Paige to show that she understands how she is feeling.

"Paige, you're still shaking," Her voice fills with more concern when she notices the slight tremble through out her entire body. Paige closes her eyes, embarrassed that she is acting like such a coward, she wraps her arms around her own body, hoping that she can stop the shaking herself.

"Scoot over, " Emily orders quietly as she gets off her knees.

"Em, I told you, I'm okay, " Paige tries to say in a confident, strong voice but it still shakes with every word and her eyes divert away from Emily's concerned, worried eyes.

Emily pulls back the covers on Paige's makeshift bed, "You're not okay, just let me. I'll lay with you until you can fall asleep."

Paige sighs in defeat, scooting over so Emily can slip in beside her. Emily wraps her arm around Paige's shoulders, so Paige can nuzzle into her side. The warm comfort of Emily starts to relax Paige's tense body as Emily starts lightly tracing her fingertips along Paige's back.

"Will your parents…" Paige starts before Emily whispers; "Shh, it's okay," Emily presses a gentle kiss against Paige's forehead. Paige feels safe like this, wrapped up in Emily's arms and focusing on the soothing sensations of Emily's fingers tracing along her back. The sensations start to lull Paige to sleep and eventually, Emily falls asleep listening to the gentle, calm sound of Paige's breathing.

"Emily?" A soft whisper and a gentle hand on her arm cause her eyes to creep open. The sunlight streaming through her window causes her eyes to sting as they adjust to the light.

"Mom? It's not…" Emily begins to panic as she registers Paige still sleeping in her arms, worrying that her mom would be upset that they fell asleep together.

"It's okay, " Her mom barely audible, glances at Paige, who is still fast asleep. Emily sneaks her arm out from around Paige and follows her mom into the hallway.

"I'm sorry mom, she was just having a nightmare in the middle of the night. I must've fallen asleep when I was comforting her," Emily immediately blurts out and starts rambling.

Her mom smiles at her sympathetically, "It's really okay. How is she doing?"

Emily shrugs, shaking her head slightly and her eyes focus on the ground, "Scared. Scared of everything since Garrett was killed. I told her that she should maybe see someone."

Her mom nods, " She's lucky to have you," she rubs Emily's arm gently, "I'm going to make you two breakfast. Then she should probably get home, so she can have her car fixed."

"Okay. I'll wake her in a few," she turns to head back into her room, trying to be quiet. Emily stops by the side of the makeshift bed and smiles at Paige, finally peaceful in her sleep, deciding to give her a few more minutes.

Emily grabs her phone off her nightstand; she had mostly ignored texts from the girls last night, so she could just be with Paige. All of the texts consist of Mona beating Spencer at the Decalathon match yesterday and Meredith knowing about Ali's blackmail on Aria's dad. It's never ending, she wishes none of this had happened and they weren't so caught in Ali's mess that maybe she could have a normal life. She wouldn't have to be scared all of the time. Paige wouldn't have to be scared. Nightmares wouldn't be waking her up in the middle of the night. They could just be together.

Emily sits down, next to a sleeping Paige, her face completely relaxed and her mouth slightly open. A smile spreads across Emily's lips then leans down, pressing her lips to Paige's temple gently, then runs her fingers through Paige's auburn hair until she starts to stir in her sleep.

"Morning," she whispers when familiar brown eyes slowly flutter open.

The sunlight pouring through the window lights up Emily's face and makes her perfect smile sparkle. "You're beautiful," Paige mutters, holding Emily's gaze as she watches her cheeks pinken and a shy smile forms on her face. "Come on, my mom made breakfast for us."

Paige pecks Emily's lips when she sits up, "Thanks," she whispers, running her thumb over Emily's hand, "You made me feel a lot better when you know..." She faintly shrugs her shoulders and avoids Emily's eye, out of embarrassment for having nightmares but it was comforting to sleep with Emily that close.

"I know, I've been there before too," Emily tilts Paige's chin up to force her to look at her, "It will get better. But, I promise that it'll help if you talk to someone. It helped me and my friends."

Footsteps by Emily's bedroom door save Paige from talking about having to see someone. "I have breakfast ready for you girls. Good morning, Paige."

"Thanks Mrs. Fi….Pam, " Paige corrects herself with a slight shake to her head then follows Emily downstairs to see that Emily's dad is already sitting at the kitchen table. He looks up from his plate with a warm, inviting smile, "Morning girls."

"Morning, dad, " Emily kisses him on the cheek then takes a pre-set seat at the table.

"Good morning, Mr. Fields," Paige greets him nervously; she has only met him briefly before at a swim meet, prior to last night. But, this is the first time as Emily's girlfriend. Her heart still skips a beat at the word _girlfriend._

"Paige, call me Wayne, " he pauses to take a bite of eggs, "How are you feeling this morning? You seemed pretty shaken up last night," he asks after he finishes chewing.

Emily places a gentle hand on Paige's thigh under the table as Paige swallows her food, "I'm okay. Everything, the past couple of weeks just got to me, I think."

Worried glances are exchanged between Pam and Wayne before he continues; "This town has been through a lot lately with so many, " his eyes briefly flash to Emily, "Unsolved murders. We are always so worried for our Emmy now."

Before Paige can respond, Emily interjects, "You guys really don't need to worry, I'm fine."

"Emily…" her mom starts with a dim pained expression, her concerned eyes focus on her daughter.

"Mom, please, "Emily pleads quietly as her narrow down on the plate in front of her, Pam glances between the those girls and sighs in defeat.

"How's swimming going, Paige?" Her mom tries to change the topic after a couple minutes of tense silence while they ate their breakfasts.

"It's going well, "Paige looks up from her plate at Pam, "I'm still training hard. I'm looking forward to this season with Emily as my anchor," she smiles at Emily with a subtle wink.

"It sounds like you two make a great team, " Wayne states proudly, leaning forward on his hands, "I'm sorry I'm not around to see it more."

"We do make a great team, don't we?" Paige quirks her eyebrow at Emily then nudges her with her shoulder, playfully.

Emily swallows, "We do," glancing at Paige with a cocky smile.

Paige waits until Pam and Emily are done with their breakfast before she says, "I better get going. My dad will want to talk about last night. Can I help clean up?"

"Paige, you're a guest, of course not. I have it all, thank you for offering though," Pam shifts her eyes to Emily, "Make sure you give Paige some clean clothes, okay?"

Emily nods as she stands with Paige, "Thank you for breakfast and letting me spend the night."

"Of course, you are always welcome here, " Pam smiles warmly.

"It was great seeing you, Paige. I hope to be seeing a lot more of you," Wayne adds, "At swimming and around here with Emily," his smile grows while he hands Pam the plates from around the table.

"Let me get you some clean clothes, " Emily offers sweetly when they get back to her bedroom.

"Em, it's really not necessary, I'm fine, " she spins around for Emily, trying to be convincing that she is comfortable in her pajamas but Emily is already in her closet shuffling through clothes.

Emily hands her a tank top, a sharks sweatshirt and sweatpants, "Just take them."

Sighing, Paige grabs them and walks to Emily's closet to change, still not entirely comfortable to fully strip down in front of Emily.

"Is that the first time you've had nightmares or has it been happening for a while?" Emily asks from her bed when she sees Paige emerge from her closet.

Paige stares down at her feet, wishing she could avoid the question, "No, it's just been a couple of times since everything."

Emily gets off her bed to move towards Paige and brush some strands of hair behind her ear, "Just think about what I said, okay?"

Their eyes lock for a few moments, " I will, I promise." Her eyes glance at Emily's perfect pink lips; Emily takes advantage of the moment to softly brush her lips against Paige's. "Come on, I'll take you home."


	14. Chapter 14

**Thought I would start this week off right with a new chapter for all my lovely readers. To all my new readers, thank you so much for your recent favorites and follows! And all my fantastic reviewers: your comments and thoughts are the best! I love getting feedback, it is the best feeling as a writer. As "summer of answers" is coming to a close, post your theories in the comment box! I would love to see all the thoughts floating around in your head.**

 **Happy Monday and Happy Reading :)**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Later that day**

When Paige comes up for air at the edge of the pool, her dad is sitting on one of the lounge chairs, watching intensely, still dressed in clothes from the church service that morning. "You're not turning fast enough," he mutters disappointedly and a downturn of his lips.

"Still beating my times from last season," Annoyance instantly filling her voice as Paige removes the goggles from her eyes to place them on her forehead

He squints his eyes at her in a slight scowl then clears his throat, "I think all these incidents with Emily lately are a _distraction_ from swimming."

"I am not distracted and Emily is not a distraction," her hand clenches the edge of the pool tighter and her voice grows harsher.

"That group of girls have always been nothing but trouble," he shakes his head and folds his arms over his chest, "Even when that Alison girl was still around. It has only escalated since."

"You don't know them or what is going on in their lives," Paige snaps loudly as she pushes herself out of the pool.

He gets ups on his feet, places a hand on his hip as he waves a belittling finger at her, "Then please explain to me why you're tire was slashed last night when you with _Emily._ "

"If you are trying to say this is Emily's fault, you are crazy," Paige shouts defensively," We went for a walk together and some creep slashed my tire when we were gone, simple as that," as she finishes, she throws her hands up in the air and storms off into the house.

After her blood pressure turns back to normal a couple of hours later, Paige rests against the headboard of her bed and shuts her eyes as her mind still struggles to wrap around everything that has happened lately. Last night topped it all, she had been looking forward to spending time with Emily, she had really missed her since Halloween. But, her anxiety attack ruined it; her tire even got slashed because she had to pull over to calm down. She had been afraid of something like _that._ The unknown. It's scary. The scariest part was watching Emily chase someone through the woods, she was fearless- it seemed almost a normal thing for Emily.

Emily and the other three girls have dealt with this for over a year now. She doesn't understand how they have managed to deal for so long. The reoccurring nightmare replays in Paige's mind, Emily is always lost and Paige is desperately trying to find her, but she can't. Then the bloodcurdling scream that pierces the air causes the familiar sinking in her chest. That's the part that haunts her the most; it always shakes her awake in a panic. The nightmare has made her realize that is what she is terrified of, something happening to Emily. Her anxiety isn't about her safety; it's about Emily's safety. She doesn't know how she would manage if something were to happen to Emily. Even the thought of it causes a sharp pain in her chest.

She _loves_ Emily, she knows that. She's pretty sure she's known that for a while. Ever since freshman year, there has been something about Emily that has made her swoon over her. Emily would walk through Rosewood High with her warm chocolate eyes and a sweet beautiful smile that made Paige's heart pound through her chest. Out of the five girls, Emily was always the sweet one and she could never figure out why she was friends with someone as horrible as Alison. Now after dating on and off for over a year, she fell completely in love with her. Telling Emily _I love you_ is new to Paige, she wants to but she doesn't know how. Aside from her parents, she has never said _I love you_ to anyone else. _What would Emily say to her? Would it scare her? Would she say it back?_

Right now, she needs to keep Emily safe and prove to her that she is still that strong woman that Emily fell for. And not that coward that she saw last night in the car and in her room in the middle of the night. Something needs to be done about 'A' or Mona; she can't just sit back and let this happen. But, she is always on the outside of the whole 'A' business; Emily claims," i _t's to keep her safe"._ She pulls her phone out of her sweatpants pocket and scrolls down to _Caleb Rivers_ in her contacts.

"I've got a proposition for you," Paige blurts out when Caleb answers after a couple of rings.

"Oh? What is it?" Caleb smirks into the phone, already intrigued.

"Last night, after Mona or 'A' or whoever slashed my tire, Emily chased them through the woods," she sits up taller and plays mindlessly with the top of her socks," It made me realize that I have to do something. I want to get to the bottom of this whole 'A' situation."

"I've tried, "Caleb sighs, "But, Hanna gets upset whenever I get involved with Mona. She practically ripped my head off when she found out I went to visit Mona in Radley without her and told Mona to stop messing with Hanna," his voice dropped to a low whisper at the mention of Mona's name.

"You did that?" Paige raises her eyebrows, smirking happily.

"Yeah, Mona lost it! She screamed like a maniac then flipped a table at me," a quiet laugh echoes on the phone, "Then she lost her visiting privileges. When Mona came back to school, I put that cow brain in her locker to scare her off."

Paige bursts out laughing, "That was you?"

Caleb chuckles softly, "Yes but Hanna doesn't know that part though."

"Let's take Mona down then," Paige states confidently, " Will you be willing to meet up tomorrow after school?"

In the background Paige hears Hanna, "Caleb, where did you go?" Caleb pauses, "This isn't a good time right now. I'll call you later, okay?"

"That sounds good, I'll talk to you soon," Paige hangs up, understanding that their plan has to be kept a secret from Hanna and Emily. She hates secrets but she is willing to keep this a secret if it means it can help Emily.

* * *

 **Next Day**

"What about Toby?" Paige taps her fingers against the coffee mug cupped between her hands.

"I don't know what's been going on with Toby lately," Caleb shrugs his shoulders, "He has been kind of MIA since he got that new job. But, I'm sure he will be just as eager to nail Mona and whoever else to the wall with us." He winces slightly and blows out his mouth when the coffee burns his tongue.

"Until then, it's just us…" her eyes drop to the table as she nods slowly, "Where do we even get started?"

Caleb carefully glances around the coffee shop then leans closer to Paige, "I have lots of stuff on my laptop about Mona but I don't know if she is working alone or not. I have my suspicions."

"Suspicions?" Her eyes narrow down on Caleb, wanting him to elaborate because she doesn't have a clue where her suspicions should even start.

"Lucas" Caleb states, "He made some weird comments about Mona just being the tip of the iceberg after he tried to set Hanna on fire. Then he was visiting Mona in Radley.'"

Paige inhales sharply through her nose, "I just would have never picked him for the type." Her mind flashes back to Alison taunting Lucas with hermie, she tortured him just like she tortured Mona. She of all people understands how scarring Alison's torment was, there are many people in the school that never fully recovered from the horrendous nicknames and teasing. But, why would they take it out on Alison's friends? As a victim, she was always able to separate Alison from her other four friends.

Caleb clears his throat, "Hanna doesn't want to admit it but the other girls think that Lucas is the one that drugged Emily the night Alison's grave was dug up."

Her hands tighten around the coffee mug as anger starts to boil inside her, "What makes them think that?"

"Aria found the pills in Lucas's camera bag and Emily matched them to what she found online, apparently."

Paige shakes her head and keeps her eyes focused in front of her, "I can't believe that Emily didn't tell me that."

Caleb studies the anger and betrayal flickering across Paige's face, "Don't worry, Hanna doesn't tell me a lot of things because she wants to protect me from 'A' or Mona. Emily is doing the same thing."

Paige sighs as a small smile curls at her lips, knowing Caleb is right, that Emily is simply trying to protect her," It's just…" she pauses and closes her eyes, " Emily was with me the night she was drugged. Then I drank from her flask at Jenna's party and got drugged and hit my head and made myself look like a complete idiot."

Caleb tries to hold back a laugh when he remembers Hanna telling him about that situation after they had gotten back together, but his amused expression falls and becomes more serious as he understands Paige's concern filled voice, " Even though you weren't 'A's target, 'A' has gotten me too. 'A' or Mona ran my mom off the road, all the way in California, not too long ago. It was mean to hurt Hanna, not me."

The amount of power that 'A' holds is still baffling to Paige, "How does 'A' even pull this off?" She mumbles and shakes her head.

His mouth hangs open when he pauses, "I don't know," he slowly shakes his head, "That's why I know Mona has to have help. She can't pull this off by herself."

"Lucas is a good start," she glances at Caleb with an encouraging smile, "But…the Queen of Hearts attacked Spencer on the train. And the Queen of Hearts was definitely not Mona."

Caleb nods at Paige while he takes a large sip of his coffee and quickly types a note on his laptop. _Queen of Hearts- not Mona- try to find costume._

"He or she or whatever was really big, definitely bigger than Lucas."

"And you still took them down, " Caleb smirks widely at Paige and leans back in his chair, "But, we have to find out who bought that costume then I can probably start to narrow it down. It just might take awhile, " he strokes his chin lightly as his eyes refocus on his laptop screen.

Paige pauses when she remembers Shana telling her that she landed a job at a costume shop. Since she broke it off with Shana, they haven't spoken, she doesn't want to still but if it means that it can help Emily, she will. "I know a girl who works at that costume shop in town, I can see if I can find anything out?"

"That might be really helpful because I'm sure the person bought the costume in Rosewood and there can't be _that_ many costume shops. If we can narrow that down, we can find out a lot about that night and who is on Mona's team."

Paige barely nods, agreeing with Caleb but guilt clenches around her heart when she thinks about talking to Shana again and having to go behind Emily's back to do it. She hasn't even told Emily about Shana and she wasn't exactly planning on it either.

Caleb notices the conflicting emotions across Paige's face as she stares ahead of her, not something that he expected when they might have a small break. "Are you okay?"

Paige scoffs, "Yeah, I'm just glad they don't think I'm 'A' anymore. "

A small smile curls on one side of Caleb's mouth, "Don't take it personally. They have done it to most of Rosewood because they don't trust anyone. Before we all fell into our relationships, they accused Toby of being 'A'- they were on that track for a while. They were also suspicious of me."

Paige lets out a sigh of relief, "Well I'm glad that I wasn't the only one then. I guess to date one of these girls, you have to be considered 'A' at one point."

Caleb chuckles, "That must be one of their secret criteria," he pauses to think, "I don't think they have accused Ezra of that though."

"Yet," Paige emphasizes by pointing her finger at Caleb with a smirk.

Caleb leans closer to whisper quietly, "I think the only thing that he has been accused of is having an inappropriate relationship with student." She covers her mouth as she giggles softly.

"I always heard rumors about that, before Em and I got together, again. I really didn't think it was true, " she shrugs, "And it turns out he is dating my girlfriend's best friend."

"It's weird, I know, " Caleb shakes his head, "He isn't a bad a guy, he is pretty nice. Sometimes its just like 'dude, what are you doing?'" The buzzing of his phone stops him from continuing, he inhales sharply as he reads the text, "I got to go, Hanna needs me for something. We can meet up later, I'll bring my good laptop next time so we can really crack down on this."

"Okay, I will call you after I get a hold of my friend about the costume shop," she stands up with Caleb.

"Thanks for the coffee," Caleb smiles as he swings his backpack over one shoulder and heads out the door.

* * *

 **Next Day**

Emily grins widely when she sees Paige appear beside her in the locker room, "Hey you," she leans forward to capture Paige's lips tenderly.

"I missed you last night, I tried calling you before I went to bed," Paige frowns slightly and fiddles with the strap over her shoulder.

Emily sighs, remembering the night before at Aria's place during Meredith's mental break down, "I'm sorry, it's a really long story." Questioning eyes watch Emily as she avoids eye contact then closes her eyes and shakes her head, "How was your appointment yesterday?'

 _Appointment?_ Paige thinks, and then it clicks. She glances away from Emily, feeling guilty all over again about her little lie from yesterday, "It was good. I think it helped," her voice drops an octave, "In fact it helped so much that I was hoping that you were free this weekend for dinner?"

Emily smiles shyly and closes her locker; "I am free this weekend, just for you."

Paige steps closer, "Good because I've missed you. I've missed _really_ spending time with you," her eyes narrow to Emily's soft pink lips then closes the gap to brush her lips against Emily's softly and whispers, "And I've really missed this." Emily smiles against her lips encouraging Paige to grab her hips and bring them into a heated kiss. One hand finds Paige's cheek as their lips press harder together.

Ever since the Halloween train, Paige has been so tentative about everything until now. Emily has missed their passionate kisses; the ones that make her knees go weak and make her dizzy and breathless. The opening of the locker room door, followed by voices of girls filing in, forces them to break their kiss and groan.

Paige reaches up and brushes Emily's dark locks behind her ear, admiring Emily's gorgeous face, "I'll walk you to class."

Emily loves how incredibly sweet Paige can be; she picks up her bag off the floor then reaches for Paige's hand. Their fingers lace tightly together as they walk out of the locker room.

"Hey Em! Hi Paige," Hanna bumps into Emily's side in the hallway then beams at their interlocked hands.

"Hey Hanna," they both greet her with a small smile.

"Emily, I thought you had a shift this morning, I went looking for you at The Brew, I was in desperate need of some coffee," Hanna pouts with a dramatic protruding lip.

"Sorry, I left a few minutes early to get a quick swim in," Emily apologizes quietly.

"And I was lucky enough to find Emily there before class starts," Paige gives Emily's hand a gentle squeeze.

The familiar mischievous grin spreads across Hanna's face as her eyebrows raise, Emily rolls her eyes as she recognizes that look. "Is that code for something else?" This time, Emily makes her eye roll more dramatic, "No Hanna, I literally just went for a swim and Paige was sweet enough to meet me after to walk me to class."

"Okay, okay," Hanna gives up with a smile as they stop in front of the Spanish classroom.

Emily turns to Paige, still holding on to her hand, "Will I see you after school?"

For a moment, the words get stuck in her throat because she _hates_ lying to Emily, especially right to her face, she drops her eyes away from Emily's," I got something after school but I'll call you later?"

Emily's face falls slightly with disappointment," Yeah that sounds good," but she leans in and kisses Paige on the cheek. Before Paige walks into the classroom, she pauses to wait for Hanna.

"Go in without me, I have to ask Em something quickly," her eyes dart back to Emily as soon as Paige is out of earshot. "Do you know where she's going after school?"

"No…"Emily's eyes narrow, "You were right there, she just said she had something and that she will call me later."

"Doe she usually have stuff after school?" Hanna pushes and Emily groans with annoyance, "She usually swims or studies, why are you asking?"

Hanna shrugs, "It just seems like you wanted to see her, she should at least tell you where she's going."

"I do want to see her," Emily responds in a calmer tone, "She's just been on edge since…the Halloween train," her tone lowers as she glances around briefly, "I don't want to push her too much right now."

Hanna opens her mouth to tell her the truth but decides against telling Emily that she heard Paige on the phone with Caleb earlier. "Well I gotta get to class, I'll see you at break," Emily turns on her heels to walk towards her first period class.

The fact that Hanna wanted to talk to Emily without her there makes Paige paranoid and worried that the girls' will start accusing her of being 'A' again. Through out the beginning of class, Paige shoots quick glances at Hanna to gauge her demeanor and attitude. But, as soon as Hanna starts their newfound routine of leaning over and asking Paige what the teacher is saying every couple of minutes, she feels her worries disappear.

* * *

 **2 Day Later**

"So we think that Ali was pregnant and whoever got her pregnant killed her?" Hanna thinks out loud as she sinks down on Emily's bed.

"Aria and I thought it would be best to bring it to the police. But, now that we saw that picture of Wilden in Cape May from that summer, I'm not so sure it was a good idea," Emily sighs, leaning back against her headboard.

Hanna turns her head to look at Emily, "What does Spencer think?"

Emily shakes her head and glances down at her bed, "I don't know, Spencer isn't in the best place right now."

A brief silence fills the room as the girls think about Spencer, not really knowing what to think or feel.

"I need to start getting ready for dinner with Paige tonight," Emily starts to get up but Hanna's hand on her shoulder stops her.

"Em?" Her facial expression is sympathetic but full of concern, "There's something that I need to tell you." The sadness in Hanna's voice and the expression on her face causes Emily to silently panic inside.

"When you saw me at the station the other night, I lied. I was at a lesbian bar and a girl threw a drink on me when I was dancing with her girlfriend."

Emily's eyes narrow and her brow crinkles with confusion but Hanna continues before she has the chance to respond, "I was there and dancing with that girl because I was hiding from Paige."

The lines on Emily's forehead deepen as her face scrunches together more, "Why were you hiding from Paige?"

"I thought I heard her on the phone with Caleb earlier and that they were meeting about Mona. So, I followed them to try to stop them but I ended up in some lesbian bar," Hanna takes a brief pause, not wanting to tell Emily what she saw.

"Why would Paige meet Caleb at a lesbian bar?" Emily questions, a little too harshly.

"She didn't," Hanna chews on her lip, "Paige was with another girl and they were flirting."

Emily feels her heart sink and a knot in her stomach tighten; her eyes glance away from Hanna, not wanting her to see the hurt and betrayal in them.

"The girl kept touching Paige and saying she wanted to kiss her," Hanna cringes in disgust at the memory, "They went to dance when a song came on and I tried to follow them but then I got busted."

Tears sting in the back of Emily's eyes, she's finally happy- her and Paige can finally be together after everything they went through in a year. Paige had pursed Emily for so long then she is going to lesbian bars to flirt with other girls. The knot in her stomach tightens painfully, Emily doesn't understand.

After over a minute of silence from Emily, Hanna puts her hand on top of Emily's, "I'm sorry, Em. I didn't mean to tell you right before your date…"

Emily blinks away a tear and glances up at the ceiling, "It's okay. I'm glad you told me. I'm going to head over there early and talk to her."

Hanna smiles caringly, "Call me if you need anything."

Emily forces a smile the nods, "I will." Before getting off the bed, Hanna leans over and hugs Emily tightly. She turns when she stops at the doorway, "Em, I'm sure there is an explanation. You should see the way Paige looks at you."

When the front door clicks shut, a few tears escape down Emily's cheeks. She quickly swipes at them before grabbing her purse to head to Paige's.


	15. Chapter 15

**Happy weekend to all my readers! Thank you to all the new reviews!**

 **To the guest review about the kiss between Nate and Emily: Paige and Emily did talk about it! Not in my story directly but on the show (that's why its not in my story since I am concentrating on the off screen parts to their relationship). I think it was in the same episode or the next episode after it happened.**

 **Jackie/Jhas: Thank you so much for your consistent, wonderful reviews. I always love them!**

 **If its getting a little confusing to where they are in the story (episode wise) let me know and I can add it into my intros to help give you guys a rough guide to where we are in the story.**

 **I hope you guys are so looking forward to Tuesday! My mind is going crazy!**

 **Chapter 15**

Emily knocks on the McCullers's front door then glances around the front porch impatiently until she hears soft footsteps on the other side of the door.

"Hi, Emily. It's so good to see you," Paige's mom welcomes her with a warm inviting smile.

"Hi, Mrs. McCullers, is Paige here?" Emily rocks slightly on her toes and shoves her hands in her jacket pockets.

"She's up in her room, getting ready for your date tonight…. I believe," she glances upstairs quickly then back to Emily as she opens the door wider, "You can head up stairs if you would like."

"Thank you," Emily smiles politely before heading up the stairs.

The squeaking of the floorboards makes Paige spin around to see Emily walking in her room, "Hey! You're early," she grins brightly and quickly walks over to kiss Emily. Her heart sinks when Emily doesn't return the kiss.

Paige swallows hard and drops her eyes to the ground, "Is something wrong?"

Emily pushes past Paige to walk to the other side of the room, trying to gather her thoughts, "Hanna told me she saw you with another girl a couple of nights ago at some bar."

 _Shit._ Her heart and mind start racing and Paige turns to shut her door, "It's not what it seems like, Em."

"Really? That's not what it sounded like," Emily scoffs at her, trying to mask how hurt she feels.

Before Paige starts to explain, she stops to think, "What did Hanna tell you? And second of all what was Hanna even doing there?"

"She followed you, Paige," Emily crosses her arms across her chest tightly, "She followed you because she thought you were working with Caleb," her voice becomes louder as her temper flares up," But instead, she ends up following you into a bar to see you flirting with another girl, who is telling you she wants to kiss you as you flirt with her then you went off to dance with her."

Paige shoves her hands deep in her pockets and stares down at her feet, she's scared and nervous at Emily's anger but a little turned on by her clear jealousy, "Hanna was right, I am working with Caleb to find Mona and whoever else might be helping her," her eyes finally raise to meet Emily's glaring eyes, "The girl that Hanna saw me with, her name is Shana. She works at a costume shop in town. I thought if I flirted with her a bit, she could help me track down the Queen of Hearts costume that attacked Spencer on the Halloween train. She was a flirt, not a threat"

Emily stares at Paige for a minute as she processes the new information then closes her eyes, "I'm sorry," she takes a deep breath as she slowly opens her eyes," I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I just assumed the worst."

Paige quickly dips her head then smiles at Emily in relief, "It's okay, I probably would've reacted the same way," she takes a few steps to close the gap, "But, you should know that I want to be with you, _Only you._ I would never do that to you, Emily."

For the first time this evening, Emily smiles at Paige as she steps in to cup Paige's face in her hands and capture her lips in a sweet loving kiss. She pulls away to look into Paige's light brown eyes, 'This is dangerous. You need to be careful with Mona and 'A'. I really don't like you doing this."

Paige holds Emily's gaze as her fingertips trace light patterns on the exposed skin of Emily's hip," I know but I realized that I haven't been scared for myself. I've been scared for you. And you seem so numb to it. I just want to protect you." _I love you_ forms at the tip of her tongue but she gently bites down on it.

Emily runs her finger along Paige's jawline, "I don't want you to worry about me. I want you to be careful because I need you safe."

A hot open mouth kiss stops any protest that Paige started to form as her thoughts blur together and she forgets everything except Emily's lips on hers. Until Emily leans back, "We've got a date tonight and I have been looking forward to it."

"I've been really looking forward to it," Paige moves her hands around Emily's lower back to pull her closer, "I was thinking about that little Italian place on the corner near school?"

Emily grins as her fingers run along the back of Paige's neck, " That sounds perfect."

"Mom? Dad? Emily and I are leaving for dinner now," Paige calls out when they reach the front door.

Paige's mom pops her head over the stairwell, "Your father and I are going for dinner and drinks at the Matson's tonight. So we will be back late. Have fun. It was great to see you, Emily."

Emily smiles graciously, "It was great to see you, Mrs. McCullers. I'll get Paige home safe tonight, I promise." Suddenly feeling guilty about the recent incidents that have occurred with her, she's surprised that they trust Paige to be with her at all.

As Emily drives, she reaches over to hold Paige's hand. Immediately, Paige laces their fingers together and presses a tender kiss to the back of Emily's hand then rolls her head to smile dreamily at her. Her beauty still leaves Paige in absolute awe, just like the first time she saw Emily. Several years later, Paige is still certain that Emily is the most beautiful girl in the world.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Paige smiling at her, "What are you smiling at?"

Her eyes never leave Emily. "You," she murmurs.

Emily laughs bashfully, "What about me?"

"You're beautiful," she whispers sweetly. Emily can only blush and bite her lip to stop herself from smiling like an idiot as butterflies flutter in her stomach. Her heart continues to race in her chest, Paige always makes her feel incredible about herself with her sweet words and the adoring way she looks at her. She doesn't know what she has done to deserve someone as wonderful as Paige.

Before getting out of the car, Emily squeezes her hand in Paige's then leans over to kiss the corner of Paige's mouth, "You're amazing."

When the hostess seats them, Emily instinctively jumps as her phone vibrates, feeling relieved when she sees its only Hanna. Emily looks up to see Paige's eyes wide with panic and concern; she smiles gently to put her at ease, "Its only Hanna. Probably just checking to see if I'm okay."

A knot forms in her stomach when she thinks about Emily not being okay because of her; the knot only constricts when she remembers she hasn't told Emily the whole truth about Shana. Emily reaches across the table to take Paige's hand when she sees the pain still in her eyes. She leans over the table, "Paige, its okay," she pauses until Paige looks up from the menu, "I'll talk to Hanna later to explain. Right now, I want this night to be about us."

"Me too," Paige smiles relieved, "Care to share an appetizer?"

"I would love to share an appetizer," her thumb traces along Paige's hand before she picks the menu up, "Bruschetta?" She glances at Paige over her menu.

"Bruschetta it is," Paige puts her menu down and brings her other hand up to cup Emily's between hers. The words ' _I love you'_ bounce around in her mouth as Emily smiles gorgeously at her from across the table.

The dinner carries on like that, thumbs caressing each others' hands as they smile sweetly at one another, they laugh and enjoy each others' company, momentarily forgetting about Shana, 'A' and past couple of weeks.

"Thanks for dinner, I had a really great time tonight, " Emily says quietly as she parks in front of Paige's house.

"Do you want to come in for a bit?" Paige asks, "My folks probably won't be back until like one so we would have the place to ourselves."

Emily raises an eyebrow suggestively at her, knowing that's not what Paige meant to imply but she wants to tease her.

"Not like that…I meant to watch a movie or something," Paige stutters nervously and glances down at the center console of the car.

Emily smiles gently and tilts her head to the side, "I know, I'm just kidding. I…"

Paige chimes in before Emily can finish her sentence, "Emily, I haven't been with anyone like that," her hands fiddle together shyly as her cheeks redden with embarrassment.

Using her fingers, Emily tips Paige's chin up to look into her eyes, "Its okay, I was only kidding. I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do."

"I do want to. Trust me _I do_ , " emphasizing with a half-laugh, "I just don't know if I'm..."

"Ready?" Emily attempts to finish for her but Paige shakes her head slightly and shrugs, "I don't know if its that, I'm just…" she chews on her lip to try to think of the right word, "Nervous, I guess. "

Emily runs her fingers through Paige's hair, "There is no reason to be nervous with me, but I don't want us to do anything that you are too nervous to do."

Paige swallows hard, "Have you…you know?' Her eyes shift away from Emily's, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Only a couple of times…. with Maya," Emily whispers cautiously. She watches Paige's face wince slightly at the mention of her name and the implication of her words.

"Only a couple of times?" Paige probes, shocked but slightly relieved.

"Maya and I didn't have a lot of time together between her being sent to True North, me and you dating and well you know…" the sentence trails off as Emily's eyes downcast. " Then 'A' broke Samara and I up after only a little of time together, so nothing serious happened between us. Ben and I dated for a long time but I never could…" Emily sucks in a deep breath as she remembers the incident in the locker room; "He tried to force me once, in the locker room after swim practice one day. He got really aggressive and luckily Toby saw him and got him off of me." Her eyes focus outside her front windshield at the empty street, feeling vulnerable after opening up to Paige.

Blunt finger nails press deeply into her palms as her fists clench in anger, "He did that? How did I not see this? How did anyone else on the swim team not see this happen? I could hit him!"

Emily places a hand over Paige's clenched fist, "Toby already took care of that, trust me. You can thank Toby later."

Paige unclenches her fists to caress Emily's cheek until their eyes meet then flutter shut as Paige leans in and kisses Emily gently. Their kiss remains slow and innocent, enjoying the love and comfort that they both need in the moment.

"You never answered my question," Paige whispers quietly with a small upturn of her lips.

"I would love to, but I gotta be super early," Emily sighs, "I'm suppose to check on Spencer before my shift. I can stop by after my shift if you want?"

"Of course I want you to!" Paige laughs, "How's Spencer doing?"

The question makes Emily roll her eyes subtly, "Toby and her broke up. No one has seen or heard from Toby. I've tried him a million times also. So, she's been lashing out at everyone," she shakes her head sadly, " I just need to check on her and hope she doesn't rip my head off," Emily grumbles at the end.

"She's just hurting and she's taking it out on you guys," Paige says gently," It's probably hard not knowing where he is or if he is okay. I hope she's doing better tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow though?"

Emily smiles, " I'll call you when I get off."

"Sounds good, I look forward to it, " Paige breathes out then pecks Emily on the lips, "Goodnight."

* * *

 **Next Day**

Paige grins widely when her phone buzzes with Emily's picture displayed on the screen, "Hey you," she chirps into the phone.

The sound of Paige's voice instantly makes Emily's heart skip happily, "Hey," she smiles giddily, "So slight change of plans. Do you want to meet me, Hanna and Caleb at The Grille in like fifteen minutes? It can be like a little double date then me and you can do a movie at mine after?"

Paige smiles further into the phone, as her girlfriend rambles slightly, then shakes her head, "That sound great, Em. I'll leave right now."

"Okay, I'll see you in a few," Emily clicks end on the call then continues walking with Hanna towards The Grille.

"Em, we need to tell them to stop because it's too dangerous, " Hanna states sternly," Caleb already got shot! I can't have anything else happen to him."

"That wasn't because of 'A'," Emily points out in a hushed tone, "That was because of Nate or Lyndon or whatever," mumbles then bites back her anger and anxiety residing from the night at the lighthouse. "But, I agree. It's too dangerous. I started to tell Paige last night but I was too angry about the bar thing, so I got a bit distracted from the point."

Hanna holds the door open at The Grille, "But you and Paige are okay now, right?" In the back, they spot Caleb sitting at a table and begin walking towards him before Emily responses.

"Yeah, I mean I'm not happy about what she was doing but it was with the best intentions," Emily shrugs slightly," Then we had a nice date," she pulls a chair out from the table to take a seat, "Hey Caleb."

Hanna bends down to peck Caleb on the lips, "We were just talking about Paige's visit to that bar," she drops her bag and takes a seat next to him.

"Hanna," Caleb rolls his eyes, "I told you…"

Hanna puts her hand up to stop him, "We are waiting for Paige."

His eyes scan between the two girls, "I thought this was suppose to be a double date?"

"It is," Hanna folds her hands in front of her, " But, we just need to talk to you guys also," she purses her lips then points to the front of The Grille, "There's Paige!"

Emily turns her head and smiles to see Paige walking towards them. Her heart immediately flutters as their eyes lock. "Hey," Paige greets them before leaning down to plant a gentle kiss on Emily's lips.

"Don't get too excited," Caleb nods at her then towards Emily and Hanna, "They are about to lecture us."

"Lecture us about what?" Paige innocently asks, taking a seat across from Caleb then glances between the other two girls as her brow winkles with confusion.

Emily tries to start calmly, "About you and Caleb…"

But, Hanna interrupts her with a harsher tone, "Going behind our backs to try to pin Mona down!"

Paige faintly shrinks back at Hanna's tone, then she sighs heavily and turns to Emily, "Em, I thought we talked about this?"

"We started to but we didn't exactly finish."

"It's really dangerous and you guys need to stop," Hanna jumps in again before Emily can continue explaining.

"Hanna," Caleb says sternly, "Mona, made your life a living hell the past year. We are trying to help because Mona can't watch us all at once."

"It just makes you a target for Mona. Caleb, you already took a bullet because of this," her eyes narrow on him then glances towards the scar" and Paige," she points at her, "you were kidnapped and nearly killed."

Paige shudders as she thinks about that night but when pain and anger fill Emily's face, she places a hand on her thigh and gently squeezes.

"Hanna, I told you," Emily tries to calmly clarify but is cut off but Hanna, again.

"No, Emily," she glares at her and throws her hand up at her, "It has to be said, they need to realize how serious this is."

"I know how serious this is, Hanna," Caleb rants in anger but in a low voice, "Mona tried to run you over with a car and put you in the hospital. 'A' caused," he points his finger towards him, "My mom's accident, 'A' or Lucas drugged Emily, that was probably meant for all of you but it also got to Paige. And if I recall correctly, Emily was in the hospital last year also. I am just guessing that was Mona's doing as well."

"When were you in the hospital?" Paige whispers in Emily's ear as her heart aches.

"Caleb, stop," Hanna pleads quietly and places her hand on his arm.

Emily turns her head to look at Paige's widened worried eyes, "I'll tell you later, okay?" Her lips frown as she just nods at Emily and keeps her eyes fixated on her.

"I'm just saying, I understand what Mona or 'A' can do. We just want to protect you from it."

"Promise me you guys will stop, " Emily says, looking at both of them as they glance at each other in defeat.

"We promise, " they mutter in unison and slump down in their chairs.

"Good! But, you'll have to tell us everything you found out after we order because I'm starving, "Hanna announces and makes dramatic hand motions.

"Fine, "Caleb fakes an annoyed tone with a small smirk before kissing Hanna and heading up to place Hanna's order.

Emily stops Paige as she goes to stand up, "It's on me today, you got dinner last night."

Her mouth opens to protest but she just shakes her head with a smile, "Okay, fine."

* * *

 **Later that day**

"Don't worry, I'm not going to make you watch Rudy again," Emily jokes with a small laugh as Paige follows her into the house.

"Good because I think I have that movie memorized," Paige teases her.

"Oh, shut up," Emily giggles and bumps into Paige's shoulder with hers, "Just pick a movie. I'm going to change out of these clothes, I've been in them all day at work." Emily heads up stairs to change and leaves Paige alone in her living room.

A baby picture of Emily on the side table catches Paige's attention before she starts going through the movies. She walks over for a closer look, Emily is so little, she grins as she looks at all of the other young pictures of Emily beside it.

Arms wrap around her waist, "You were suppose to be picking out a movie," Emily whispers in her ear.

"I was but I got distracted by these cute photos of you," Paige turns her head and holds up the baby picture in her hand.

"At least I'm not butt naked in this one," Emily laughs, slightly embarrassed.

Taking a final glance at it, she puts it back on the table, "That would be pretty cruel if your parents did that to you," Paige turns in Emily's arms and circles her arms around her neck, "I would still think it's adorable though."

Emily dips her head as her cheeks pinken then looks up as Paige leans in to kiss her softly. Butterflies start to flutter in Emily's stomach as she smiles into the kiss and wraps her arms tighter around Paige's waist. Their lips move quickly together, Paige's tongue begs for entrance that is quickly granted to allow their tongues brush and dance together.

Paige's hands trail down Emily's neck and over her shoulders before they pull away gasping for much needed air. "I'll pick out the movie now," Paige says between deep breaths, "Then you can tell me how you ended up in the hospital last year."

Emily groans loudly and hangs her head. "I know you were hoping I would forget," Paige says smugly band steps towards the DVD stand.

Emily flops down on the couch and watches Paige scan through the DVDs, "You have to promise to keep this between us, not even my parents know the whole reason why I was in the hospital."

Exhaling deeply, Paige turns to Emily with a couple of DVDs in her hands, "I should just assume that from now on anyways."

"Do you remember when I collapsed in school last year? Before we had that big meet?"

"Yes…"Paige answers as she takes a seat next to her on the couch, "I thought that was an ulcer?"

"It was but that's not all…" Emily pauses, "I had been really stressed out about that meet because the scout from Danby was going to be there. I was over working myself and not sleeping for days. My body was so sore, so I used prescription medical cream to help. Only, to have 'A' tamper with it."

Emily notices Paige's eyes widen with concern, " 'A' had put really high levels of Human Growth Hormones in it. I started panicking when I found that out and I asked Wren…the doctor and Melissa Hastings' ex-fiancé, " she clarifies quickly, "Not to release those records because you know what that would do to my swimming career." Her hands fiddle uneasily together as she recalls a memory that she has tried to repress.

Paige sighs and places a hand over Emily's anxious hands, "Em, I'm just glad it wasn't anything worse. Like being run over by a car," she tries to add with a lighter tone, "You know I was really worried when that happened to you. I wanted to come and see you in the hospital but I didn't think you would want to see me then," a sad smile flashes across Paige's lips.

"I would've loved to see you," her eyes fixate on Paige until their eyes meet, "Even when we weren't together, I always loved hanging out with you because you know how to make me laugh and smile. I could've used that then,' Emily smiles sweetly at Paige as she watches her blush under her words then dip her head adorably to glance at their hands.

"Why were you so stressed out about Danby?" Paige asks, confused, "You're an amazing swimmer, Danby and a million other colleges would be lucky to have you."

Emily pauses, to debate if she wants to go into the details about the fake letter, "It's just been a school that my parents and I have always talked about for me."

Paige barely nods, feeling as though that isn't the whole story, "Just please don't stress yourself out like that again. You just make me worry even more."

Emily laughs lightly, "Let's see what movies you picked out," she takes the DVDs out of Paige's hands, "Legally Blonde, Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, Forest Gump, Rent and Nightmare on Elm Street. You picked out quite the selection here."

"You like options," Paige points out, "And options that don't include Rudy, " a teasing grin forms on Paige's face that makes Emily giggle and throw Forest Gump at her, "Go put this on."

"Yes, Miss. Fields, " Paige mocks and sticks out her tongue before getting up to put the movie in. Emily pulls her phone out of her sweatpants pocket and sighs when there are no new messages.

"Everything okay?" Paige asks, sitting back down and putting her arm around Emily on the couch. Shaking her head, Emily cuddles into Paige's side, "I haven't heard from Spencer or Toby."

Sadness engulfs Emily's voice, Paige tightens her arm around Emily's shoulder and runs her fingers gently along her arm, "I thought you were seeing Spencer before work this morning?"

"I tried…." Emily breathes out, "She didn't answer and Toby…I don't know where he is or if he is okay," her heart sinks when she thinks about Toby's unknown whereabouts.

"Spencer probably just needs space. As for Toby…. I'm sure he is okay and that he will turn up when he wants to come back, " Paige whispers then kisses Emily's head.

There is something about the way that Paige kisses and holds her that brings Emily an incredible amount of comfort and relaxation. As her worries fade away, she feels herself relax into Paige's embrace and let's her head fall against her shoulder.


	16. Chapter 16

**For all of you that tuned into the finale last night? What did you think? I think my highlight was Emily punching Sara in the face….ahhh the best. I ironically starting writing this chapter several days ago, it just worked out timing wise, I guess haha. For all of you that might be getting a little confused about where this story is right now- its around 3x20. Hopefully that is cleared up in the first couple of bits.**

 **As always thank you to all my new favorites and follows! And a special shout out to my consistent reviewers, specifically Jhas, you know you are always fantastic, thank you so much! And to the guest reviewer: I am so glad you enjoyed that last update, I hope you enjoy this one as well!**

 **Happy reading :)**

 **Chapter 16**

 **A week later**

Paige groans when Shana's name flashes across her phone screen, "Hey Shana."

"Do you want to explain why I almost got fired for e-mailing out confidential information?" Shana spits harshly into the phone.

"Why would I know something like that?" Paige asks as she taps her fingers on her desk, annoyed that Shana is even calling her.

"Because when you and your girlfriends were here, someone e-mailed out transaction information about the Queen of Hearts costume that you said you guys tangled with."

Paige shuts her eyes, piecing together what happened earlier, "I don't know Shana, but it wasn't me."

"I know that, sweetie," Shana snarls, "It was your girl, Emily. Her friend, the blonde one was clearly to distract me with her stupid pointless questions. I can see why you're head over heels for Emily. She's gorgeous. I wish I saw her first," Shana finishes smugly.

The words make Paige clench her jaw tightly, "I'm sorry that happened. But, I'm sure it wasn't Emily who did it," she tries to lie.

"Uh-hm, sure," Shana hangs up on her.

She drops her pen, closes her Economics textbook then slips her boots back on. On her way out the door, she runs into her dad, "Where are you off to young lady?"

"I'm going to Emily's," Paige states, gripping the door handle behind her, eager to get on her way to Emily's.

"Weren't you just with her?" It's more of statement rather than a question, "Paige, do I have to ask you again? Is this girl distracting you from your studies and swimming?" He glares down his nose as he places his hands on his hips.

"No, dad," Paige rolls her eyes, "She's an amazing swimmer too, if you have forgotten. She keeps me motivated, if anything. I just need to talk to her about something important."

Her dad studies her face for a moment then his hands release from his hips as he gives up, "Fine, just don't be back too late. You need to be up early to practice."

"I'll be back in like an hour. Two max," Paige mumbles and rushes out the door.

* * *

 **An Hour Later**

As Emily's lips move more urgently against hers, Paige grabs Emily's face with both of her hands to match the amount of urgency and desire in Emily's lips. Emily's heart races and her stomach flutters because of the growing intensity of the kiss and the three words that Paige just said to her. _I love you_. An uncontrollable giddy smile stays plastered on her face as she wraps her arms around Paige's torso.

Paige slips her tongue in to explore Emily's mouth and slowly backs her up to press Emily against her desk. One of her hands slides down Emily's neck and side until it hesitantly sneaks under the hem of her shirt. Emily gasps quietly and moves her arms to circle around Paige's neck. Goosebumps break out on Emily's back as Paige caresses it with her hand. Her other hand grips Emily's hip to pull them closer together as her other hand trails around Emily's side and around to her front. Just as she builds up the courage to move her lips to Emily's jaw, the new blaring ringtone of Emily's phone on the desk behind them disrupts the moment.

Reluctantly, Emily leans back to grab the phone, " Shit, I'm really sorry Paige, I gotta go umm take care of this."

Paige hangs her head in disappointment, "What is it?"

"Just something to do with ah, Spencer," Emily stumbles out in a lie, "I can give you a ride home, if you would like?" She asks, trying to buy herself time to come up with a better lie.

"Yeah," Paige holds back an eye roll, "That's fine."

As Emily turns her keys in the ignition, Paige puts a hand on her forearm, "Emily, you just told me in there that we can't be half honest with each other. So tell me what's really going on."

"Paige," Emily breathes out, "I can't its not…."

"Just tell me otherwise I'll just worry more," Paige keeps her eyes fixated on Emily until she sighs in defeat.

"Fine, I am going to CeCe's because I have to ask her about a picture that Hanna and I found at the police station," Emily finally confesses as she pulls out of the drive way.

"I thought that you said CeCe was…."

"I told you, we don't know what we think anymore, okay?" Emily unintentionally snaps, "She was in the picture and we want some answers."

"Is CeCe dangerous?" Paige inquires, feeling concerned about Emily putting herself in danger yet again with a possible suspect.

" I don't think so, I think the only thing that is dangerous is what almost killed me in the elevator last night," it slips out before Emily can stop it, she just closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Excuse me? What?" Paige yells as her mouth hangs open.

As she parks in front of the McCullers' house, she turns to Paige, who's mouth is still hanging open and her eyes are about to fall out of her head with shock, "When I was with Jason last night, we went to his dad's office because he wanted to give me something of Alison's to help us and when we went to leave, the elevator was tampered with, we think and I was able to jump out in time but the elevator went plunging to the bottom with Jason in it."

"Why the hell wouldn't you tell me something like this? You were nearly killed!" Paige shouts then runs her hand through her hair, "Is Jason even okay?"

"Jason is fine, we were with him in the hospital last night," Emily pointedly leaves out Jason escaping the hospital room.

"I think I should come with you to CeCe's because…"

"No," Emily cuts her off bleakly, "I need to do this on my own, I'll be fine I promise. Her apartment is just down the road," her head nods in the direction of downtown Rosewood, "And there are no elevators, it's not like I'll be getting in one anytime soon anyways."

"I still think that…"

"No," Emily shakes her head, "Paige," she caresses her cheek, "I'll be safe, I just need to ask CeCe about this, I will even call you when I'm leaving her place okay?"

Paige bites her lip, "Fine."

As she watches Emily drive away into the night, Paige shakes her head dejectedly then turns to head into the house and immediately up to her room. Her angst about Emily starting to kick in, at least she knows where she is and whom she's with. But as always, she fears like crazy for Emily's safety, especially after the elevator incident last night. The thought of Emily nearly crashing in that elevator scares the living hell out of her. A fearful shiver runs down her spine, she reaches over and grabs Emily's shark's sweatshirt that she still has and slips it over her head. Breathing in the familiar scent of Emily, causes the tightness in Paige's chest to relax and the tenseness in her shoulders to drop. She kicks her boots off and allows herself to curl up comfortably in bed.

Emily's scent brings more pleasant thoughts and memories to her head; the one of their most recent heated kiss causes Paige's stomach to flutter happily. She had finally told her that she loves her, not in a way that she planned but it came out. Emily didn't say it back but the amazing kiss eased Paige's worries, for now.

As a habit now, Paige leaves her phone on loud and near her head as she sleeps. Worried that she will miss a frantic call from Emily, that something is wrong and that needs her. Or that she will be getting a call from someone else because something happened to Emily.

* * *

 **Next Day**

"Come on ladies, lets hit the pool, now," the coach's voice booms through the locker room as most of the girls are still sitting around and talking. Paige has been leaning against her locker and poking her head around the corner when she would hear the locker room door swing open. It's not like Emily to be late.

"Where's Emily?" The coach asks her when she is the last one remaining in the locker room.

"I don't know. I haven't heard from her, but I can call her now," Paige stammers out then opens her locker to grab her phone.

The coach sighs deeply, "Okay, jump in the water once you talk to her. Scouts are watching both of you. Closely. I need you two on top of your game," the coach finishes firmly before walking away, leaving Paige alone in the locker room.

' _Where are you?'_ Paige types then grips her phone tightly in her hand. She's barely heard from Emily since last night, she called briefly when she got home, safely. Last time she heard from her was this morning to let her know she was at work then Emily didn't show up in their last period class today.

A minute later, the phone vibrates in her hand, ' _Can't make it tonight.'_ Her shoulders slump in disappointment and she leans back against her locker. All day, she had been looking forward to seeing Emily since she hadn't seen her in class. She thought they could maybe get pizza together after practice. Instead, Emily is probably up to something to do with 'A' or maybe Paige's _I love you_ confession scared her off. Paige throws her phone inside and slams her locker, before walking to join the team.

"Is Emily coming?" The coach yells to her across the pool as Paige adjusts her goggles and swim cap.

"I couldn't get ahold of her, I'm sure she has a good reason, " Paige lies then dives into the pool. The water drowns out any further questioning from the coach, not having the mental energy to come up with more lies for Emily.

The whole practice, Paige drives all of her fears and worries into her strokes. Swimming helps clear her head; really any form of exercise has always helped her overcome her anxieties. Still, practice isn't the same without Emily, her presence motivates Paige to push harder. Before kissing her in the car last year, she was torn between wanting to impress Emily and wanting to beat her in competition. Now, Emily's presence just motivates her to be the best she can be, by swimming for herself and no one else. Without Emily, it's like something is missing and she doesn't have that extra motivational drive.

"Is Emily okay?" Anna asks Paige when she grabs her clothes from her locker.

"I'm sure she's fine. She just…." Paige trails off then turns to face Anna, "She's just got a lot of personal stuff going on lately,"

Anna nervously bites her lip then nods subtly, "But…you two are okay, right?"

Paige glances at her feet briefly then back up at Anna with a weak smile, "Yeah, we're good."

"Good because we can't have you two fighting. It'll be worse than the beginning of last year," Anna teases Paige as she tosses a towel through her long blonde hair.

A breathy laugh escapes Paige's lips then she scrunches her face, "Was it really that bad?"

"Well at first," Anna pauses and purses her lips, "We were pissed at you, like what the hell were you thinking doing that to sweet Emily. We were like 'how could Paige treat her like that'. But then, you came out and we started to connect the dots, " she finishes by nodding her head with a smirk that causes Paige to hang her head and blush.

"Yeah, that's when we figured out it was just a bunch of unresolved sexual tension, " Bianca chimes in behind Anna.

Paige's blush deepens, "Was this like a team discussion I missed?" Half joking at first, to hide her obvious embarrassment.

"There have been many secret team meetings then," Bianca whispers to Anna then they giggle together, "And maybe a few bets," Anna adds as they laugh harder.

"Bets?" Paige shrieks with her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"You told Paige about the bets?" Nicole stops by with a smirk and her eyebrows raised.

"We were just getting to that because Paige was clueless to it all," Anna grins smugly at Nicole.

"What are these bets?" Paige demands again.

"You know…" Bianca glances at Nicole and Anna as they continue to giggle together, " When you and Emily would take care of that sexual tension," She cheekily wiggles her eyebrows at Paige.

"Oh my god," Paige screams and covers her face, "You guys were betting on that?" Her face burns as it turns beet red.

"Maybe you can give us a hint on who won," Nicole tries with a hopeful smile and a wink.

"No, no," Paige waves her hands at them, "Oh my god, I can't believe you were betting on that!" Paige stares at the ground as she turns to walk away.

"Oh come on, Paige! Tell us!" All three of them yell after her.

"No!" Paige yells back over her shoulder before pushing through the locker room doors and heading towards her car.

Her face is still burning bright red; she flops down in the seat and immediately tugs out her phone. Her thumb hovers over the 'call' button for Emily, but she grunts and opens a text message instead. ' _Hope you're all right. Missed you at practice tonight. Call me later if you can.'_

As she drives home, Paige thinks about the bets their teammates have been making and wonders how long they guess it for. All of a sudden, Paige starts to feel insecure about herself and her relationship. _Should they be at that point in their relationship already?_

Paige sighs; she knows every relationship is different. She wants to get there with Emily, she really, really does and she hopes Emily knows that. But, they haven't had the most typical relationship. At first it was just Paige being internally homophobic then she tried to hide their relationship that pushed Emily to dating Samara then Maya came back and now it's just her and Paige's insecurities. Along with 'A' being a factor in Emily's life, that adds a whole other dynamic to their relationship.

The scars on her thighs, she knows deep down that's one reason she has been so nervous. Emily knows about them though, she is the only one that really knows.

Her phone bleeps and vibrates when she pulls into the garage. A small smile forms on her face when she reads that Emily is home, just happy that she is safe and in one piece.

' _I'm sorry something came up. Can I call you in a few minutes? Hearing your voice would really help.'_

' _Of course, Em. Just pulled into the garage, call me whenever you're ready.'_ Paige turns and grabs her swim bag from the backseat then heads inside.

"Paige?" She hears her dad call her from his office as she walks in from the garage.

"Yeah, dad?", she asks leaning against the door.

"I want to schedule a couple of college visits soon. Pick out some of the top choices that you are applying to and would like to swim at," he leans back in his chair, looking intently at her.

She nods, "Yeah, okay. I have a couple in mind." He continues watching her, waiting for her to continue. "One I definitely want to look at is Danby."

"Danby?" He jerks his head and his brow creases, "I haven't heard you mention that one before."

Paige shrugs, "They have a good swim program and it's close by. I thought it might be a good idea to just take a look at least." He is right, she hasn't mentioned it before, it wasn't even a thought in her mind until about a week ago. It's one of Emily's top choices and even though they haven't talked about it, Paige would like the _possibility_ of being close to Emily.

He studies her face then nods faintly, "Okay, I'll start setting up something, if that's what you want."

The ringing of her phone makes her pause, "It's Emily, I gotta take this. But, I'll get back to you with a few others." She turns on her heels and accepts Emily's call.

"Hey, Em," she says quietly with a small smile as she heads up the stairs to her room.

"Hey, you," Paige can hear something off in Emily's voice; she shuts the door behind her and drops her stuff on the ground. "Is everything alright?"

"I- I don't know right now," Emily's voice starts cracking, "I don't know what's real and what's not. I just know that I needed to hear your voice."

Paige chews on her lip, completely lost," What do you mean, Em?"

A heavy groan comes from the other end of the phone, "I wish I could tell you right now, but I can't. Not until I talk to Spencer and we can figure this out."

Her chest tightens, it hurts Paige that Emily can't tell her everything first hand. She wants to be her rock and protector but she feels like she can't because she's on the outside of everything.

"Please, can we just talk about something to get my mind off this for right now?" Emily pleads with an unsteady voice.

Telling her about today's practice should help ease Emily's mind and maybe even make her smile, if she's lucky. "Did you know that the team has had like secret meetings about us?" Paige grins slightly into the phone and leans back against her pillows.

"Team meetings? About us? To talk about what exactly?" A new lightness rings in Emily's voice.

"Apparently ever since I came out and before we officially got together, they were able to put the pieces together from our rockiness last year. They have defined it as unresolved sexual tension and have been placing bets on how long it would takes us to…you know," Paige fiddles nervously with the hem of her shirt as she trails off.

Emily's beautiful laugh warms Paige's heart, "What did you say to them?"

Paige chuckles, "Well as I was leaving they were yelling behind me, asking me _when_. So they could resolve the bet. I ended up walking pretty quickly to my car."

"I'm sorry I left you alone with that tonight," the smile can still be heard in Emily's voice.

"It's okay, I'm just glad you're alright. I was just worried about you, " Paige shrugs to herself.

Emily sighs into the phone, "I didn't mean to worry you, Paige, I'll be careful and stay away from elevators."

"And lighthouses," Paige adds lightheartedly.

"I don't think either of us will be going to a lighthouse anytime soon," Emily retorts.

"Or ever again, " Paige mumbles.

"That's probably a better idea," Emily pauses, "I gotta go, I need to meet with Aria and Hanna early. But, I'll see you at school?"

"Try to get a good sleep, you need it. I'll wait for you in front so I can see your beautiful face before first period; " Paige smirks happily into the phone.

"I look forward to it," Emily says in a low flirty voice, "Goodnight, Paige."

"Goodnight, Em."


	17. Chapter 17

**First tuesday without PLL? It felt so weird didn't it? I already can't wait til 6B gahhh. Hopefully this chapter fills the emptiness for some of you! Especially your lovely paily hearts. I'll try to get chapter 18 up soonish, I'm working on it a bit but I'm flying out to see my girlfriend for the next week and a half or so. So, it might be a little longer than usual to get the next chapter up. I'll make it an extra good one, I promise!**

 **Thank you for the feedback and reviews I got!**

 **To one of the guest reviews: It has been noted and I will try to weave more of Shana into the story and get her interactions with Emily and Paige a bit more than the show captures.**

 **Jhas: As always, you are awesome! Thanks for always sharing your lovely thoughts about the chapters!**

 **To the most recent guest reviewer: I know! I hate that Paige is always on the outside but I will try to change that!**

 **Until next time, happy reading!**

 **Chapter 17**

 **Next Day**

Emily smiles brightly when her eyes collide with the beautiful light brow eyes that she loves in front of the school.

"Hey, you," Paige presses her lips to Emily's, who grins wider against her.

"Hi," Emily fidgets with Paige's hands and downcast her deeply worried eyes.

Her finger tilts Emily's chin up to bring their eyes back together, "Are you okay?"

Concern wells in Paige's eyes, something Emily has become accustomed to since she told her about 'A'. She sighs, "I'm worried about Spencer. We can't get ahold of her; Melissa showed up here this morning to tell us Spencer never came home last night. She's in the principal's office calling the police to report her missing right now."

"Do you think this has something to do with…'A'?" Paige hesitantly whispers, gently stroking Emily's arms/

Emily shakes her head, "I-I don't know, she has been pushing all of us away since her break up with Toby." The mention of Toby's name makes Emily cringes slightly, hoping that the recent information about him isn't true.

Paige wraps her arms around Emily tightly when she notices the pain filling her eyes and Emily melts into the embrace, loving the pure comfort that the hug brings. "It's going to be okay, Em," she breathes into Emily's ear as Emily nuzzles against her neck. Her arms pull Emily tighter to her body, "I suppose this is a bad time to tell you that I'm going out of town in a couple of days."

Emily leans back with a small pouty frown, "where are you going?"

"On college tours. My dad told me to pick out my top schools so we can go tour them and talk to them about swimming."

The corners of Emily's lip turn into a small smile, making Paige feel slightly better, "That's great, do you have them picked out?"

Paige exhales, unsure if she should tell Emily that Danby is on her list but the ringing of the school bell buys Paige some time to decide, " I have a couple picked out, not all. But, I can tell you about them all later?"

"Maybe over dinner before you go?" Emily bats her eyelashes subtly, making Paige's stomach flutter. "That sounds good."

"Good, now walk me to class," Emily sweetly demands.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Paige grins slyly as she laces their fingers together and walks with Emily into the building.

* * *

 **Next Day**

The harsh buzzing of Paige's phone on her desk brings her out of her study trance, but a wide smile spreads across her lips when she see it's a message from Emily. _'Hey, are you busy right now?'_

She bites her lip as she types a reply, _'You could say so. But I could use a distraction from this trig homework ;)'_

' _How about I come over and we finish this trig homework together then we take a dip in the pool together?'_

Paige leans back in her chair with a flirty smirk on her face, ' _I like the sound of that miss fields.'_

The knock on the door less than two minutes later startles Paige as her skin jumps at the sound. Taking a quick glance in the mirror, she combs her fingers through her hair then skips down the steps.

"Do you have some superpower skills that get you here so fast?" Paige jokes as she opens the door.

"I was already on my way when I texted you," Emily laughs quietly as she steps inside.

"And what if I was busy?" Paige shuts the door behind Emily then slowly turns to face her.

"I figured you couldn't say no to me either way," Emily states confidentially then steps closer to Paige to lean in for a soft kiss, "Plus, I have something exciting to tell you."

Paige curiously raises an eyebrow at her as Emily flips through her phone until she holds it out in front of her. "Miss Franklin was here?" Paige shrieks, "In Rosewood? How? Why? How did you know?"

Before she continues, Emily clears her throat softly; "Umm…Shana actually emailed me to meet her at The Brew because she had something for me. Then, she's sitting there with Missy Franklin. I pretty much freaked out and froze."

"Em, you shou-," Paige pauses as her mind finally finishes processing and her tone becomes serious and uneasy, "Wait, Shana emailed you? Like Shana from the costume shop?"

Emily shoves her phone back in her pocket then nods, "Yes, the same Shana. The same Shana that you failed to mentioned is also a big swimmer."

Paige hangs her head, "I'm sorry, Em. I didn't think that mattered." Fingers push Paige's head back up and her eyes collide with warm chocolate eyes, "It doesn't. She just seemed shocked that you didn't tell me. It just caught me off guard."

A weak smile returns to Paige's lips, still plagued by a sense of guilt for not telling Emily everything. When soft lips press against hers, the guilt starts to fade away with each kiss. Eventually, Paige grabs Emily's waist to pull her closer and intensify the kiss. Her mind starts to blur as Emily sucks on her bottom lip. Suddenly, Emily pulls away and Paige leans back in to try to find her lips again but Emily continues to lean further away. "We have trig homework to do," Emily reminds her slyly.

"Trig isn't as exciting as your lips, " Paige pouts and tries to tug Emily closer again. Her breath gets caught in her throat when Emily leans closer again, her lips barely out of reach, "After we finish trig, we can pick up where we left off or continue this in the pool," Emily whispers seductively.

"I like the sound of that," Paige stammers out, gazing dreamily at Emily before she is yanked upstairs behind her.

"So…how's Spencer?" Paige hesitantly asks as they crack open their textbooks on her bed.

Her eyes never move from the textbook, "I don't know. We still aren't allowed to see her," Emily sighs with annoyance, "I'm just worried about her being in there."

"Do you think it's true about…." As soon as the questions starts coming out, Paige regrets it, knowing that this is a very sensitive topic for Emily.

"About Toby? I don't know," she shakes her head, "Spencer was in a pretty bad state, I don't think she knows what she saw. I hope not," her voice drops at the end as she closes her eyes, hoping that Toby is still out there and that this is all a lie. Paige keeps her eyes on Emily as she watches the subconscious stress and fear strain on Emily's face. She reaches for her to intertwine their fingers to remind Emily that she's right here to comfort her.

"What did you get for number nine?" Emily forces a weak smile as she tries to change the topic.

For a moment, Paige forgot about their trig homework, she sighs heavily and skims over her paper, "282 "

Emily nods, "I got the same. I don't know what you were so worried about before."

"Because I hate trig," Paige groans, "But, you might be my good luck charm," she adds with a wink then leans in for a kiss, only for Emily to pull away. "One more problem, McCullers, then we can pick up where we left off," Emily smirks at her then turns her attention back to her textbook.

Paige grimaces with a frown, "Fine, this better be easy then."

Emily chuckles, "Hopefully I am you're good luck charm and you can continue pulling that genius out of your ass."

Emily tries to focus on math, but her eyes keep shifting to Paige. For days now, she has wanted to say _I love you_ back because she really does love her. Since Maya and Alison have been murdered, she has found it increasingly difficult to say those three little words. When Paige told her that she loved her, Emily wanted to melt with happiness. She knew Paige loved her before she had told Emily; it is obvious in the way Paige looks at her and touches her, every time they are filled with love.

"What are you looking at?" Paige smirks, as she continues solving the last problem, her eyes never leaving the paper in front of her. "We are supposed to be finishing this problem, aren't we?"

"I needed some encouragement," Emily winks at her then darts her eyes back to her paper.

"Well, you're in luck because I think I got this one," Paige drops her pencil then turns towards Emily. "Look it over and tell me what you think," the paper is thrown over Emily's as Paige falls back into her pillows.

"I don't think you actually needed my help with this trig homework, " Emily raises her eyes as she starts copying down Paige's work.

"I did!" Paige exclaims and rolls her head to face Emily, "I was stuck when you texted me. You have just seemed to bring out the genius in me." She pauses when she sees Emily cock her eyebrow at her. "I think it was those kisses that sparked it."

Emily's laugh fills the room and she puts the pencil and papers down, "Since we are all done, it seems like you don't need to spark your genius now."

Paige grabs Emily's arm and yanks her towards her until their lips crash together, "I need to keep that spark going, you know for the upcoming college visits and such, " she murmurs against Emily's lips.

"I think that can be arranged, "Emily giggles then moves her lips urgently against Paige's. They get lost in the kiss until Emily lands on top of Paige. Paige tosses her arm around Emily's neck to pull her deeper into the kiss. An tremendous amount of lust and desire starts to cloud Emily's mind as she has to fight the urge to kiss Paige's neck, worried that she will be pushing too hard and will make her feel rushed.

Paige sucks on Emily's tongue as her arm tightens around her neck and she lets her other hand drift under Emily's shirt, to caress the soft skin above her hip. A soft gasp from Emily encourages Paige to slide Emily's shirt up as her hand trails up her back. She gets a good grip around Emily to allow her to flip them over until Paige falls on top of Emily.

At first, Emily is shocked by Paige's sudden confidence but her desire increases ten fold. She grabs Paige's face to hold their lips and tongues in place as they continue to dance together. Feeling Emily's body underneath her is something Paige has imagined for so long. Eventually, they pull their lips apart, desperate for air that their burning lungs are demanding.

Paige props herself up by placing her hands on either side of Emily head, both of their eyes darkened with desire and want. It takes all of Emily's will power to not strip Paige of her clothes right there. "You feeling pretty smart now, huh?" Emily breaks the intense silence with a joke.

A shy grin widens across Paige's face as she ducks her head, "I'll be Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton at this rate. Spencer Hastings will have some serious competition from me."

Hearing Spencer's name brings her back to reality, Paige can feel Emily's body stiffen underneath her and closes here eyes, "Sorry, Em, that wasn't the best thing to say, probably."

Emily shakes her head softly, "It's nothing you said because I would love to see Spencer have some serious competition." A small smirk forms on Emily's lips, imagining the possibility but just as quickly the smirk fades away, "It's just, you brought me out of reality for a little while. Like you always do. I almost forgot…" Her voice trails off sadly, the words _I love you_ get stuck in her throat as she looks deep into the light chocolate eyes, that have always made her heart pound. She lightly traces her finger along Paige's cheek and jaw, causing Paige's eyes to flutter shut at the sensation.

Nerves keep preventing Paige from bring their lips back together and picking up where they left off. It was pretty clear where it was headed. Paige wants all of it right now, she always has.

"How about pizza and a swim?" Paige smiles down at Emily, upset with herself for letting her nerves get the best of her, again.

"Pizza, you know me so well, McCullers. But, you will have to tell me about the upcoming college visits."

"Deal," Paige replies, rolling off Emily, "I'll call the pizza in after we change, so it will give us time to swim before it comes."

Emily pushes her hair out of her face as she gets off the bed and ruffles through her bag for her swimsuit. A familiar sharks sweatshirt lying near Paige's bed catches Emily's eye, "You still have my sharks sweatshirt."

"Oh, yeah, sorry, " Paige stammers out, rubbing the back of her neck, "It, um…. it helps me sleep at night when I'm having those nightmares or I'm worrying about you. You can have it back."

Emily turns to smile sweetly at Paige, "Keep it, I think it's cute."

* * *

Emily slowly lowers herself into the pool as Paige finishes ordering the pizza on the phone. The familiar cool water immediately soothes Emily's tensions.

"It's gonna be about forty-five minutes," Paige tosses her phone onto a pool lounge chair. Emily quickly dunks her head under water to get her hair wet then runs her fingers through her dark waves, " That's plenty of time to get a good swim in or for me to kick your ass, McCullers."

"Beat my ass?" A smirk slides across Paige's lips then she jumps into the pool and swims to Emily's side, 'It's on, Fields!"

Before she has time to respond, Emily glides through the water after Paige. The girls swim lap after lap, neck and neck with each other.

"Looks like I won that one, Fields!" Paige pants then sticks her tongue out at Emily.

Emily scoffs, "I definitely won that round! My hand touched the wall way before yours did!"

"No way! I watched you come in behind me!" Her hand motions behind her, where she saw Emily swim just after her.

"You are just a sore loser! Do we need a ref now?" Emily starts drifting closer to Paige.

"I am not a sore loser because I won!"

Emily shakes her darkened wet hair before crashing their lips together. All thoughts and memories of the race fly from Paige's mind, as she gets lost in Emily. Their lips work quicker against each other as Emily pushes Paige up against the pool wall behind her.

"I won," Emily whispers against Paige's lips, who mindless nods in return, forgetting the race and her competitive edge. Instead, she cups Emily's face with her hands to increase the passion of the kiss. Emily places her hands on the edge of the pool, on either side of Paige's body. Their tongues tangle together when Paige grips the back of Emily's neck.

Timidly, Paige's hand drifts from the back of Emily's neck, around and down over her chest. Emily's heart starts hammering at Paige's confident actions and for a split second, desire clouds her mind and she pushes her body flush against Paige's. Her lungs start to burn due to a lack of oxygen and Emily is able to pull away and control her body. She rests her forehead against Paige's as their hot breath mixes together. Finally, Emily opens her eyes to see newly darkened brown orbs pouring into hers.

The loud ringing of Paige's phone breaks the deep moment that they fell into, "It's probably the pizza guy," Paige half grunts, reluctantly sliding out from between the wall and Emily to get out of the pool.

Emily steals a glimpse at Paige's ass as she pushes out the pool; she smirks to herself as she goes to follow her. "Yeah, he's here, we just didn't hear him ring the door bell," Paige holds a towel open for Emily then wraps it around her body, " Dry yourself off, I'm going to run inside and pay him."

After drying off, Emily goes inside as Paige walks into the kitchen with the pizza. "Do you need a change of clothes?" Paige asks, setting the pizza down on the table.

"Um…yeah," Emily nods after a quick pause, " sweats would beat pulling jeans on after swimming."

"Okay, " Paige smiles, "Let's get changed into some comfy clothes. Then we can eat pizza and watch a movie in bed? Unless you need a shower?" Paige nervously babbles, her mind racing through the night's events.

"A shower can wait. I don't want the pizza to get cold plus, I'm starving from beating your ass, " Emily does her lop-sided smirk and gently nudges Paige in the side causing her to raise an eyebrow at Emily, "Also, a movie in bed with you sounds really good right now. But, I need to catch up on Lost."

Paige rolls her eyes and picks up the pizza, "You really watch that show?"

"It's good! Toby told me to watch it…" Her voice trails off as she mentions Toby's name and bites her lip, "You'll like it though. I won tonight, so I think I should pick."

Paige opens her mouth to argue when they reach her room but she turns to Emily and the bright chocolate eyes beaming at her cause her to give in, "Fine, I'll give it a chance but I'm not expecting much!" Tossing the pizza box on the bed, Paige turns to grab some spare clothes from her dresser.

"Is this because I made you watch Rudy too much?" Emily laughs as Paige hands her clothes.

"That might have something to do with it," Paige nods at her with a humorous smirk then turns around to change into sweats a t-shirt.

As Emily changes, she sneaks a glance over her shoulder and lets her eyes quickly drift over the toned muscles on Paige's back. Her eyes quickly snap back before Paige can notice. She tries not to let her imagination of Paige's body go to far because it will only drive her more insane. They have gotten so close recently; Paige has this incredible ability to turn her on with such simple touches. But, Emily knows that she needs to let Paige take the lead on this and let her know when she's ready for that step.

The sound of the TV turning on, snaps Emily out of her thoughts. She turns towards Paige and smiles when she flops down on the bed.

"I don't know if this pizza is really that amazing or if I'm that hungry," Emily mumbles between bites.

"You are probably just that hungry because you have eaten this pizza like a million times before," Paige turns and takes a seat next to Emily on her bed, "So…am I to start at the beginning or what?"

"You have to start at the beginning! I'll just pick up where I left off later. Probably when you're gone, to keep me busy."

Clicking play on Netflix, Paige leans back as she devours her slice of pizza. "So…you haven't told me where you're going yet," Emily starts after her third slice of pizza.

Paige exhales then sits up, "I'm kind of going a lot of places. Mainly to talk to scouts at schools that I wouldn't get into otherwise. So, I'll be starting on the east coast seeing NYU, Boston University, Penn State, Dartmouth and ummm, " Paige nervously glances down, "Danby." The way that Emily's eyes light up with a wide hopeful smile spreading across her face, immediately makes Paige feel more confident again. "Then going over to the west coast, I'm looking at University of Washington, Cal, Stanford and UC San Diego."

"Wow," Emily breathes out, threading her fingers through her still wet hair, "Those all sound amazing. Some are just so far away. But, Danby?" The glimmer of hope instills in Emily's eyes.

As she picks up another slice of pizza, Paige nods, "Yeah, I want to keep my options open since there are so many great schools. But, I want to keep Danby as one of my options."

Emily cups Paige's face and kisses her softly, "I'm gonna miss you when you're gone."

"I'm going to miss you too, I'll probably just be worried about you the whole time."

Emily sighs, "I know but I don't want you to worry. I will be fine. You have my sweatshirt to give you some comfort when you miss me," her head nods towards the chair with her sweatshirt draped over it, " Speaking of that…can I keep this t-shirt or something because it's super comfy and I want something of yours when you're gone."

A wide grins breaks across Paige's face, "Now, that's incredibly cute, Miss. Fields. Of course you can." Emily kisses her cheek then curls into her side to continue watching Lost together.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello fellow readers, sorry it has been so long! I was gone for a long time but now I'm back and tried to get a chapter up ASAP. I hope this chapter does it's justice for now, as always leave your comments/suggestions/whatever you may please below. Happy reading!**

 **Chapter 18**

 **2 Nights Later**

"Why are you two so pissed?" Hanna shouts as she follows Emily and Aria down the steps outside Radley.

"Because Spencer is fragile right now, you can't yell at her like that!" Emily spins around with a glare and throws her hands up in built-up frustration.

"Well she needs to know the truth and get the hell out of that place," Hanna points to the dark building behind them, "because she's being ridiculous."

"Hanna!" Aria turns to yell at her at this time, "We want her out of there just as much as you do," her finger points at the blonde, to emphasize her point, "But you were not helping in there!"

"Are you two listen to yourselves right now?" Her eyes narrow in on Emily and Aria, "Our friend Spencer is in Radley because she thinks Toby is dead, which he isn't. I am just trying to help her get out of there." Hanna angrily stomps over to her car and gets in the drivers seat.

As they hear the car door slam, Emily rolls her eyes until they fall on Aria, "I don't know what's going on with her. I guess I'll talk to her on the way back to my house."

Aria sighs and peeks over at Hanna's car then speaks in a low voice, "She does have a point though, Spencer needs to know the truth about Toby because maybe it will help that he is still alive but I don't know," she finishes with a faint distant nod.

"I know," Emily rubs her forehead and closes her eyes; "I'll try to see if I can get anymore information from my mom from the station."

The impatient sound of Hanna's car starting irritates Emily even more, "I guess that's my signal to go. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

Emily makes a point to slam the door when she gets in Hanna's car as she speeds off. Neither of the girls speak as the streets of Rosewood fly by, Emily tries to gather her thoughts and plan on how to deal with Hanna's apparent insensitivity to Spencer's situation. The beeping of her phone breaks the tense silence they have fallen into, "Have you talked to Paige today?"

"I did a bit earlier today," Emily glances up from her phone, " She's just been really busy looking at colleges and talking to scouts and stuff," her annoyed tone slowly fades into sadness as she thinks of Paige's recent absence.

' _I already knew that you must've been pretty damn amazing by the way your girl Paige talked about you. You have yet to prove me wrong."_

The discrete flirty text from Shana makes Emily uneasy, leaving her unsure if she should continue the seemingly innocent conversation. She drops the phone back in her lap, deciding to deal with the text later.

* * *

 **2 days later**

"Well Paige, I really hope you consider joining us next year. We would love to have you," the Stanford coach says enthusiastically as she hands Paige a final packet of information about the school and swim program.

"I will definitely be considering it. You have one of the best swim programs in the country. The campus is beautiful; California is almost like a dream for me. It's just pretty far away from home, so I'll have to weigh all my options," Paige nods as she flips through the new information in her hand.

"If you need any further convincing other than the full ride, please let us know and we will make it happen," the coach leans forward over her desk.

"I will do. But, I think the full ride will be enough for me," Paige smiles politely at the coach, "I just have to talk some logistics with my folks."

"They were more than welcome to come with you if they had any concerns," the coach reminds her kindly, having made that point clear over the phone prior to the meeting.

Paige inhales deeply through her nose, "I know but my dad can be too overbearing, I thought it would be best to come on my own."

The coach stares down at her hands and smiles, "I hear that a lot. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. I really hope we hear from you soon."

Paige shakes the coach's hand graciously before heading out of the athletic department and through the rest of the campus towards her hotel, a couple of blocks away from campus.

The campus is lush green filled with tall vibrant trees surrounded by gorgeous buildings. It all looks so new and modern, very different from the old traditional east coast style.

Students cover the lawns as they sit together in groups and the little coffee shops are packed. All Paige can imagine is her and Emily here together, holding hands on the way to class, lounging on the beautiful emerald grass doing homework, living together in the dorm rooms, that she sees freshmen wandering out of. They would be away from Rosewood, together. Emily would be away from 'A', she would be safe with her.

She doesn't need to talk to her parents, they will push her to go here no matter what. She needs to talk to Emily; she's the reason that she didn't give the coach a flat out answer on the spot. _Would Emily consider Stanford? Would she want to be here at school with her?_ Emily is probably a better swimmer than she is, the coach would be all over her.

A text from Emily sits on her screen, ' _Hope the meeting at Stanford is going well. Call me_ _'_

Instead of replying, Paige hits the green button and listens to the phone ring several times. The sound of Emily's sweet voice on the other end instantly causes Paige to break out in a wide smile.

"How did it go?" Emily asks with a little less enthusiasm than Paige hoped for.

"It went well," Paige stops herself from spilling all the details, wanting to talk more about this in person with Emily.

"Well," Emily urges, "What did they say?"

"I'll give you all the details when I get home, but it's good news."

Emily plays with the hem of her shirt, " I can't wait to hear. Will it be soon? Because I miss you."

The words _I miss you_ cause Paige to blush and duck her head, even though Emily isn't here, she still has this crazy effect on her. "I miss you too, Em. How is everything with Spencer?"

Emily's tone becomes more serious, "Good I guess. I think her family is picking her up tonight. Hanna and Aria are here because we are going to surprise Spencer at her house in the morning, she will probably need support before school."

"I'm not holding anything up am I?" Paige scratches the back of her head, suddenly feeling bad and in the way.

"No, no it's fine, " Emily assures her, "It's nice to hear your voice."

Paige can feel her cheeks turning pinker; she shoves her hands in her pockets, trying to avoid any embarrassing eye contact with people on campus, "Is Hanna still staying at your house?"

Before she answers, Emily glances around to make sure neither of the girls have snuck up on her then whispers, "Yes but I think she's starting to drive me and my mom insane. It's even worse since Caleb is out of town. At least, I have the upcoming swim meet to distract me."

The swim meet, she completely forgot, "Oh yeah, that's in a couple of days isn't it? I hate that I'm going to miss it."

"I wish you could be there, " Emily twirls her hair with her index finger, "We make a great team. What am I suppose to do without you?"

Paige chuckles, "We do make a great team but you are the anchor and you are going to kick ass at that meet. You call me right after because I want to hear all about it."

"I will."

Paige stops in front of her hotel, "I gotta go, Em. I just got back to the hotel and I'm sure my folks will want to hear all about the meeting as soon as I walk in the door."

Emily sighs, a little disappointed, "I know, I better get back to Hanna and Aria, I love…" her voice halts before she can finish the sentence, "I loved hearing your voice, I can't wait till you're back," Emily closes her eyes and runs her fingers through her hair, feeling flustered and a little overwhelmed with the three words that almost slipped out of her mouth.

"I can't wait to see you when I'm back," she smiles as she pushes through the revolving front door, "I'll text you in a bit though."

Hanna and Aria pause their conversation to look up at Emily when she comes back into her room. "So, how's Paige?" Aria asks as Emily slumps down at her desk.

"I miss her, I know it's only been a couple of days but she's all the way in California. Looking at colleges," Emily shakes her head with a small frown then shrugs, "It's just making me think about next year."

"I miss Caleb, too, " Hanna sadly mumbles and Aria briefly glances at her then turns her attention back to Emily, "Do you think you want to be with Paige next year? You know like at school?"

Emily nods slowly as she starts to realize it herself, "Yeah, I think I do. Well, I know that I don't want to be apart from her at least. Especially not _that_ far apart. I almost told her I love her on the phone just now," her tone is quiet and vulnerable as she stares straight in front of her. Hanna and Aria exchange huge smiles with each other.

"You did?" Hanna shrieks happily as she sits up in Emily's bed.

"That's so sweet," Aria stares at Emily with a sincere expression and a small, encouraging smile.

"Why didn't you just say it?" Hanna throws her hand up subtly.

"I didn't want to say it over the phone. Plus, she's already said it to me and I've wanted to say it back. But, it's been hard to since…." Her eyes shift down to her feet, as she feels her past tragedies cloud her mind and heart, "Maya and Alison," she mumbles sadly.

Aria places a comforting hand on Emily's knee at the mention of Maya and Alison's names, in return, Emily forces a weak smile.

"Wait," Hanna states then leans closer, " When did she say it? Why didn't you tell us that she did?"

"It was after we went to the costume shop. She came over to talk about it and Shana then it just sort of happened," she finishes with a small shrug.

Hanna smiles, "We are really happy for you, Em. I already knew you guys loved each other by the way you look and smile together like idiots."

"Have you been talking to Shana still?" Aria pushes Emily to remember their earlier conversation at school, when she told Emily she should tell Shana to stop texting her when Paige is gone before it blows up in her face.

"She texted me a couple times but I haven't responded, " Emily breathes out.

"I still don't get why she isn't into me," Hanna loudly interjects.

"Shut up, Hanna," Aria shouts firmly at Hanna and Emily rolls her eyes.

"Can we talk about Spencer?" Emily tries to change the subject, " How should we handle tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Aria shakes her head, "We don't know how she's going to be. We will just have to feel it out, I guess. We are there to support her."

Emily silently nods as Hanna mumbles, "Yeah, so she doesn't go back to the nuthouse."

"Hanna!" Aria and Emily yell together and shoot her harsh glares.

"Sorry! But, she did go crazy! They found her in the woods and she didn't even know who she was."

"That could've easily been any of us, Hanna. You can't say stuff like that around her," Emily crosses her arms, feeling like they have had this same conversation a million times already, "If you thought that was Caleb in there, I'm sure you would've lost it too."

"Yeah but it wasn't Toby."

"She thought it was though, Hanna, and that was enough. If I thought that was Ezra, I could've ended up in Radley or close to it. I mean, the place Ezra and I are in right now is already killing me. I can't imagine what it would be like if I thought he was dead," Aria explains sadly.

"You and Ezra will work it out. You always do," Emily tries to comfort her.

Aria digs through her purse to find her ringing phone, " Shit, sorry. I'm late for picking up Mike from practice," she quickly jumps to her feet and starts gathering her things, "I'll see you guys tomorrow morning?" She asks before heading out the door and the other two girls just nod in response.

"But, really," Hanna breaks the silence after they hear the front door shut behind Aria, "Why doesn't Shana flirt with me?"

Emily rolls her eyes dramatically and lies down beside Hanna on her bed, "Maybe you aren't her type."

"What is that suppose to mean? How am I not her type?" Hanna scrunches her face and rolls her head to look at Emily with her brow furrowed in confusion.

"I don't think blondes are her type, " Emily clarifies to Hanna with a gentle smile.

"Does that even matter though? I mean you have dated and liked both blondes and brunettes and so have I!"

"Yeah, but some people have a more defined type I guess, " Emily shrugs.

"Do you think she's hot?" Hanna props herself up on her arm, watching Emily's face.

"Not really," Emily makes a discrete face of disgust, " She's okay, " she adds, trying to sound nicer, "Okay maybe I'm being a little harsh because she dated Paige."

A smirk creeps up on Hanna's face, "You were so jealous when you found out!" Hanna blurts out causing Emily's face to redden at her words, "What do you think happened between them?"

"I know that they dated for three weeks. I didn't ask for any more details than that. I don't really want to know, " Emily fights the still residing jealousy of Paige dating someone else other than her.

Hanna drops her gaze briefly, "Do you think they you know….?"

Emily shakes her head, "No, I know they didn't. Paige hasn't umm…" The sentence trails off, she isn't sure how much she should be saying, not knowing if Paige is comfortable with people knowing personal details.

"Oh," Hanna exclaims shocked, "I didn't know. I just assumed that you guys…"

"She wanted to take things slow," Emily clarifies immediately, "which I thought would be a good for us after everything that has happened recently. Plus, I want it to be special for her and us."

Hanna smiles, loving the sweet side of Emily, "I knew Paige was really special when you took off the bracelet that Ali gave to all of us," her hand gestures towards Emily's wrist.

Emily has nearly forgotten about taking the bracelet off and shoving it in her desk drawer, "It just felt right, you know?" She subconsciously brushes over her bare wrist, where she always worse the bracelet, "Especially after knowing about Paige's past with Alison. It felt almost like betrayal wearing it," she shakes her head, "Things with Maya were great. Even Samara. But, with Paige, it's different," her face lights up and an effortless smile curls at the corner of her lips, " We always find a way back to each other. She makes me feel things that I never thought I could feel."

"That's freaking adorable, " Hanna nearly squeals through her wide grin, "This is the happiest I ever seen you. Also for the record, I love Paige and so does Caleb. So, we should do double dates more often."

* * *

 **Later that night**

"What do you mean you have to think about it?" Her dad yells across the room, his eyes scrutinizing her every move and every expression.

"It's a big decision, dad!" Paige shouts back, "You can't expect to decide right on the spot. I have lots of options, just give me a few days to freaking think!"

Her dad shoves his tongue in his cheek and shakes his head, "I just don't understand what there is to think about. You have worked for _this!"_

"There are many things to think about! If the school is right for me, academically and socially and if I will be happy here," Paige nearly scoffs her reply.

"Of course you will be happy here. It's STANFORD," her dad clarifies in his strong demanding tone.

"Nick," her mom tries to interject calmly, "This is Paige's future, we need to let her make decisions on her own. She has so many wonderful options."

"No," he shakes his head firmly, "We have worked for this!" He points at the ground, " You haven't spent hours in the pool for nothing. This is about Emily isn't it?"

She bites her tongue and shakes her head, "This is about me, dad. I need some air. I'm going for a walk." Paige grabs her jacket and heads for the door.

"We aren't finished here!" Her dad stomps towards her, anger flaring up in his eyes.

"Well I am, for now," with that she shuts the door in his face and hustles down the hall.


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry for taking so long for the uploads! Been juggling a lot of stuff lately but I still want to have well written chapters! I hope this conquers that. Thank you for all the new follows and favorites recently, I hope you guys will like this chapter as well!**

 **To the recent guest review: Haha i know, Nick is a d*** but after they showed him in that single episode, I kind of wanted to keep him that way but make it a balancing act with her mom being a nice woman :)**

 **Happy saturday and happy reading!**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Next Morning**

Paige fights the impulse to shout at her dad in the middle of the hotel restaurant, ever since yesterday afternoon, he has not stopped bugging her about Stanford. _It's the best opportunity. Full-ride. California._ She wants a moment to breathe, to think, she tried to last night but as soon as she got back he was on her again about it.

"I think it is just a waste of time to even visit UCLA at this point," he mumbles and swigs down coffee.

"It isn't a waste of time," Paige scowls at him with daggers in her eyes, "You told me to pick out my top choices. I did and I want to talk to all of them to see what they have to offer. Because for the last time, I am not making a decision right here, right now." With that, she throws her fork down angrily.

He rolls his eyes "If you think Emily has a chance to go to UCLA for swimming you're dreaming," he sneers in the most condescending way possible.

"Nick," her mom whispers, attempting to shoot him a look to stop the path he is going down.

"I don't know how many times I have to say this, this isn't about Emily, so stop bringing her into this," she grits her teeth, "May I remind you that Emily has consistently beat me in swimming, I know that you hate that she's a damn good swimmer. But, it is a fact that you can't change and I know that any coach would want her if they want me. So, if she ends up swimming at the same school I do, it is something I would not argue with at all." Paige crosses her arms, leans back in her chair and looks across the room, away from her dad, trying to focus on the busy street outside.

He shakes his head, wordlessly at her at first, "I'm going to the restroom before we go," he throws his napkin down and leaves the table.

Her mom watches him until he is out of sight then returns her attention back to Paige, "He just wants what's best for you."

"No," she shakes her head, "He wants what he wants and isn't letting me make a decision for myself."

"Whatever decision you make, I will support you," she smiles at Paige and gently rubs her arm. Paige nods silently, not totally believing her mom. "Is this about Emily though? Are you holding back to see what she thinks and hoping she will choose to go with you?"

Paige inhales deeply, " Yes and no. This is a decision that I want to make on _my own_. But, Emily's opinion matters to me also. I want to know if we do have the possibility of being together next year because we do make a great team…. swimming and I love her but I know she's had her heart set on Danby. But I won't let that impact by decision in the end," she finishes with a small shrug.

"Emily is great and I am sure that all these coaches would love her but I don't want you to make a decision based on a _high school_ relationship," her mom tries to explain but the way she degrades a high school relationship makes Paige bite her tongue back. Their relationship is no ordinary high school relationship; there has no one who has remotely interested Paige in high school except for Emily. And no matter what situations their lives have forced them into; they always find a way back to each other. "I'll talk to your dad though, I will try to get him to back off and give you your space, but you know how he gets."

* * *

 **2 Nights Later**

The knocking on the door snaps Emily out of her thoughts, she immediately runs from the kitchen to swing it open eagerly and jumps into Paige's arms. Paige didn't even get a chance to blink after the familiar face appeared in the doorway but she happily wraps her arms tightly around Emily's torso, "Ahh I missed you too, Em."

Emily leans back, grinning ear to hear then gives Paige a slow sweet kiss, "Come on, I'm just starting dinner for us."

Paige quirks an eyebrow and follows Emily into the house, quickly kicking off her shoes and hanging her jacket up by the door. As she reaches the kitchen she hears the bubbles of boiling water on the stove, "You're cooking dinner?" The small smirk on Paige's face makes Emily stick her tongue out at her.

"I thought it would be a nice surprise for you coming home. My mom is gone for a couple days to Texas, so I saw it as a good opportunity to make a spaghetti dinner for us," Emily finishes dumping the spaghetti noodles in the pot and turns back to Paige, who wraps an arm around her waist.

"I just didn't know you cooked," Paige tilts her head slightly to the side as her fingers stroke along the skin of Emily's back.

"Spaghetti is the only thing I really know how to cook, so don't get your hopes up," Emily laughs and takes a step closer to Paige, "I guess I can also make grilled cheeses but I thought spaghetti might be a little more romantic."

"I find spaghetti very romantic," Paige chuckles before capturing Emily's lips with hers, in response, Emily loops an arm lazily around Paige's neck to return the kiss. After only a few seconds, she pushes Paige away gently, "Now stop distracting me and go get us some drinks from the fridge," then she points to the pan by the oven, "And throw that garlic bread in the oven to heat it up."

The couple bottles of wine on the counter catch Paige's eye after she puts the garlic bread in the oven, "Would your mom really notice if one these happened to go missing?"

Emily can hear the smirk in Paige's voice, she turns around to see her glancing over her mom's wine, "Oh she would, she doesn't drink them that often but when she does, she goes at it."

"Really?" Paige turns to face Emily and scrunches her face in surprise, "I can't imagine your mom doing that."

"When my dad comes home, they like to celebrate. Then she likes to drink with the girls' moms, especially Hanna's when she needs to let off some steam," Emily laughs when she starts piling the spaghetti onto plates for them and topping it off with the traditional meat sauce and some Parmesan cheese.

Paige places two cups of iced tea on the dining room table as Emily walks through the doorway, "Dinner is served."

"That looks and smells amazing," Paige beams at her and pulls out her own chair to take a seat.

"I told you," a plate of spaghetti is slid in front of Paige, "Don't get your hopes up," Emily smiles shyly as she sits across the table from Paige.

"Well the good thing is, you can't fuck up too bad with spaghetti," Paige wiggles her eyebrows lightheartedly.

"That is true," Emily picks up a piece of garlic bread and swings it around, "But I will probably have found a way to fuck it up. Paige laughs and shakes her head. "You need to tell me about your trip since you have been leaving out all the details until now!"

Paige smiles between a mouth full, making her cheeks puffy with a crooked smile," I will tell you, let me finish a couple of bites here."

"I'm just excited to hear," Emily twirls her spaghetti before shoving it in her mouth and staring at Paige with wide impatient eyes.

For the past week and a half, Paige has missed those glowing chocolate eyes and that sparkling smile more than she could have ever imagine. Building up to her Stanford dream for them is probably the best idea. Before starting, she takes a swing of the iced tea, "It's all good news, for the most part all the schools had something wonderful to offer me. NYU, Berkeley, Danby," Paige pauses momentarily as she watches Emily's eyes brighten up several shades and her smile splitting across her face, "And Stanford."

"Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing, Paige," she places her fork down on her plate, "You must've really blown them away. I knew you would."

A blush spreads across Paige's cheeks as she holds Emily's eyes, "You always believed in me, Em. You are the one who made me love swimming again and remind me to swim for myself and no one else."

Emily brushes a few strands of hair behind her ear, "You would've done it with or without me, you're an incredible swimmer and you deserve it all."

Paige leans back in her chair and she swallows a bite of spaghetti, "And Em, I believed you and this spaghetti is delicious."

Emily pauses for a moment to really taste her food, "You're right, it is delicious," she glances up to giggle together with Paige. "So, which school really won your heart?" Deep down, she hopes to hear the word _Danby._

Paige looks at Emily thoughtfully for a moment before deciding on how to proceed," They were all beautiful and amazing and had so much to offer but I think that Stanford ultimately won my heart."

She attempts not to let it show on her face but Emily could feel her heart sinking deep in her chest but she flashed the most thoughtful genuine smile at Paige that she could force. "Stanford?"

"Yeah," Paige nods slightly, noticing the smile isn't meeting Emily's eyes and that they have lost the sparkle that they had only a few minutes ago. She sighs to herself and knows Emily is disappointed that she didn't say _Danby._

"I can't wait to hear more about it," Emily forces the excitement in her voice, desperately trying to hide that her heart is hurting at the fact that Paige will most likely turn down the opportunity to be with her at Danby next year. Giving 'A' more power to drive them apart and not having Paige here as her rock and protector.

* * *

 **A half hour later**

" _I really love you",_ keeps ringing in Paige's ears. No other combination of words could make her this happy, especially after Emily agreed to start a life with her at Stanford. She tightens her grips around Emily's body, who leans back to look into Paige's eyes.

"What?" Emily asks through a wide grin. Paige gets lost in the deep chocolate circles of Emily's glowing eyes. Words get jumbled in her throat as she tries to explain the amount of joy and excitement that is running through her veins. She lets go of Emily to move around to the side of her bed and take a seat next to her.

"You are just…" Paige tries to start, holding Emily's hand then shakes her head, still in disbelief, "I always thought I would be alone because I was so screwed up and ashamed of myself. And now here you are, telling me that you love me and that you want to be with me next year, getting away from here. You are just making all my dreams come true and are making them better than I could have ever hoped."

The words instantly melt Emily's heart, the thought of spending the next few years with Paige is a dream come true for her because it brings her hope, possibility and love. Emily caresses Paige's cheek and brings them into a gentle slow kiss. Scooting closer, Paige raises her hand to the back of Emily's neck to deepen the kiss, wanting as much passion in the moment as possible. Another hand drifts under Emily's rising top, stroking the soft skin there and she lets her hand slowly glide higher up Emily's back. After another minute of their tongues tangling together, Paige gently tugs on the back of Emily's neck until Emily falls on top of Paige. Immediately, Emily pushes her body further against Paige's as she feels a hand tangle in her hair.

Her mind is consumed of Emily, wanting her in everyway. She just doesn't know how to tell her. She's never done this and wishes she was better, more experienced at this sort of thing. _Does she begin by taking Emily's shirt off? Does she tell her flat out what she wants?_

"Are you okay?" Emily asks, concerned as she stares down at Paige, who didn't even realize she had stopped kissing Emily back as her mind had an internal battle with itself.

Paige bites her lips lightly then grips the hem of Emily's sweatshirt between her fingers, "Can I….? Her voice nervously trails off, unsure of how to finish the sentence without sounding awkward.

Emily studies Paige's eyes, the nervousness and doubt circles in her light brown eyes. Emily knows that feeling, she's been right there in Paige's shoes before. She sits up, straddling Paige's hips and lifts her arms up. Paige sits up with her to drag her sweatshirt up the rest of her body until it drops to the ground.

Emily's bare chest catches her off guard, " D-Do you normally not wear a umm bra?" She stutters out, hypnotized by the site in front of her. Her fingers start running up and down Emily's bare sides, causing goose bumps to break across Emily's tan skin at her very touch.

"I usually do, today is just your lucky day," Emily smirks sexily as she grabs Paige's face to pull their lips back together.

Paige's hands wander over Emily's bare torso, loving the feel of her soft smooth skin beneath her hands. A soft gasp escapes Emily's lips when Paige tenderly cups her breasts. The sensation of Emily's perfect breasts and hardened nipples pressed into her palms is better than Paige ever dreamed of.

Emily's hands fall down from Paige's face until they reach the hem of her tank top; they reluctantly break apart to allow Emily to pull it over her head. Emily immediately tosses Paige's sports bra on the floor after her tank top hit the ground.

They rest their foreheads together as Emily lets her hands roam over newly exposed skin, "You're so beautiful, Paige," she whispers sweetly as their eyes meet again. A blush creeps over Paige's cheeks and her hands run up Emily's back to pull her closer. She presses her lips against Emily's collarbone then starts a path up her neck. The electrifying sensation of Paige's mouth on her causes Emily to breath heavier with each kiss planted. Once Paige makes it back up to her lips, Emily kisses her urgently and leans into her body until Paige falls back onto the mattress.

Remembering this is Paige's first time, Emily softens the kisses until they are deep and tender, wanting them to take it slowly. Their tongues dance together as Paige presses her hand firmly against Emily's back and the other re-tangles in her hair. Her heart is nearly beating out of her chest at the feeling of Emily lying half-naked on top of her.

Emily's lips drop Paige's as she begins kissing down Paige's jaw and neck. When she kisses firmly on her pulse point, Paige inhales sharply and untangles her hand from Emily's dark locks.

Emily peppers kisses down Paige's chest until she reaches her breasts; she kisses the left one gently then starts sucking softly on the already hardened nipple triggering a loud inhale from Paige. The loud gasp turns into soft moans as Emily continues to suck and flick her nipple with her mouth. Emily's free hand slides up Paige's side and starts massaging her right breast, Paige lifts her hand to re-tangle her fingers in Emily's hair as she arches into her mouth.

After a couple of minutes, Emily drops Paige's nipples and kisses a path down Paige's wonderfully toned stomach, loving the sensation of her rippling muscle underneath her lips. When her lips reach the top of Paige's jeans, she searches for Paige's big brown eyes, "Are you sure?" Emily asks thoughtfully, wanting to be positive that Paige is ready for this step.

Paige huffs and raises and eyebrow, "You are half naked and just kissed down my body, I couldn't say no if I wanted to."

Emily chuckles quietly then slowly unbuttons and unzips Paige's jeans then pulls them down along with her underwear. Insecurities slowly creep into Paige's mind, fully aware that her fading scars will now be visible to Emily.

But, her insecurities start to dwindle away as Emily strokes her hands slowly up Paige's bare thighs and gently press her lips against the faint scars on her upper thigh.

A loud gasp echoes in the room when Emily makes contact with her center, Emily moves her tongue slowly and deliberately at first, then her strokes gradually quicken, drawing louder moans and gasps from Paige.

She glides up Paige's body as her fingers replace her tongue's movement against her; Paige immediately wraps her arms around Emily's body, "Tell me if anything hurts, if I need to stop or go slower or anything, okay?" Emily whispers to Paige when her fingers glide down to her opening.

Paige nods breathlessly as she loops an arm tightly around Emily's neck to pull her down for a kiss. Slowly, Emily pushes inside causing Paige to groan softly at the initial pain but moans as pleasure starts to overpower it.

Emily slides her tongue along Paige's bottom lip until her lips spread apart to allow the kiss to deepen as she moves her fingers delicately inside Paige. As the kisses grow sloppy and the moans become more frequent, Emily brushes against Paige's clit with her thumb, "Emily…" Paige whimpers then muscles start contracting around Emily's fingers as a heat of pleasure courses through Paige's body, her hands tighten around Emily to pull her closer in the moment.

Emily plants soft kisses on Paige's face until her breathing returns to normal and her soft brown eyes flutter open. "That was…." Paige breathes out with a wide smile, "That was amazing," her hand lifts to cup Emily's face gently.

"Was it?" Emily asks lightheartedly with a lop-sided smirk.

"Oh yes," Paige leans up to kiss Emily and flip them over when she least expects it. Emily grips the back of Paige's neck as their kisses grow deeper again and Paige's hands move to explore Emily's body. Paige places open-mouthed kisses down Emily's long slender neck as her thumbs graze over hard nipples, enticing a soft gasp from Emily. Her lips continue their path down Emily's body, taking extra time around her breasts that cause Emily to start going crazy under Paige's electrifying touch. Emily's heart races with anticipation when she feels the kisses descending down her stomach. Paige's hands fumble undoing Emily's shorts as she gets closer. She sits backs on her knees as she drags her shorts and panties down her legs. For a few seconds, Paige allows her eyes to wander over the site in front of her. She is sure her heart has never beat so hard in her chest before. It is without a doubt that Emily Fields is the most beautiful girl in the universe. Paige's hands slowly slide up the outside of Emily's smooth thighs as she leans back down to kiss her way up her inner thigh, wanting to kiss every inch of her stunning girlfriend.

"Oh my god," she gasps when Paige's tongue finally makes contact with her, Paige smirks against her, satisfied with herself then resumes with her long deliberate strokes. Her hands come up to grip Emily's hips, to hold her in place.

Emily starts searching for Paige's hand, patting around the bed, wanting more physical contact with her. Paige lets go of Emily's hip and laces their fingers together as she quickens her strokes. Emily's hips lift slightly off the bed as she releases a throaty moan then tugs at Paige's hand, wanting to feel her against her. Before Paige abides to Emily's silent demand, she lets her fingers take up her strokes against Emily, then slides up her body until their lips meet and gradually pushes inside.

"Paige," Emily whimpers deeply against her lips and circles her arms tightly around her body. As Emily struggles to return the kisses, Paige steadily moves her fingers faster and curls them inside to push Emily over the edge. Emily holds onto Paige tightly as the pleasure shakes her whole body and clouds her mind.

Paige props up slightly to watch Emily's face go through an array of emotions and gently brushes stray hairs out of her face and her breathing steadies. Familiar chocolate eyes find hers when Emily is finally able to open her eyes.

"I love you," Paige smiles, lovingly at Emily as she holds her gaze.

"I love you, too, "Emily shakes her head, "So much."

Paige rolls off of Emily then onto her side and Emily turns to face her. A gentle hand starts stroking up and down Emily's arm. She scoots closer to Paige and lets her fingertips trace along Paige's face as they stare into each other's eyes.

"You're so gorgeous, Em," Paige states with a slight shake of her head and a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips, "How did I get so lucky?"

"How did _you_ get so lucky? How did _I_ get so lucky? Emily corrects her, "You are unbelievably beautiful, Paige. And that was incredible. I'm glad we took things slow. I wanted things to be perfect for you."

Paige tilts her head slightly on the pillow, " That was more perfect than I possibly could've dreamed of. I have pictured that happening between us in so many different…ways," the last word takes a couple of seconds to slip out as her cheeks burn red and Emily giggles cutely and nods in agreement.

"But," Paige starts again " Nothing could ever beat the reality of it," Emily opens her mouth to speak but is interrupted by a ringing phone, somewhere in the room.

Paige grunts and grabs her pants off the floor, fumbling to pull her phone out of the pocket, "Hi, dad."

"Yeah," Paige nods into the phone, "I was just talking to Em about Stanford and stuff," she takes a seat back on the bed and Emily leans up to press a gentle kiss on the back of Paige's bare shoulder.

"Okay, I will, " Paige, mumbles sadly, her head dropping to look down at her knees.

"I gotta go, " she whispers as she turns back to face Emily with a downturn of her lips, "Practice early."

"I know, but I will be there early, too, " her lips curl into a small smile, "If I want to be with you at Stanford I gotta practice, practice, practice."

A big beaming smile stretches across Paige's face at the mention of Stanford again, "They will love you either way but please do practice more if that means I get to see your face more. It gives me some encouragement in the pool," she finishes with a wink.

Emily giggles again then bumps against Paige gently, "Come on, let's get dressed then I'll walk you out."


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm sorry it took me awhile to update! I was so indecisive about how I wanted this chapter to go. Now, I'm pretty satisfied with it and I hope you guys enjoy it too! Thank you for the recent reviews! I appreciate your feedback and thoughts so much.**

 **Also, happy October! We are getting closer to PLL coming back!**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Next morning**

The distinctive beeping of her alarm clock makes Paige groan loudly into her pillow before she allows her eyes to creek open, the immediate ache in her eyes remind her of two things, one that it is 4:45 in the morning and the sun hasn't even risen. And two, that she stayed up far too late last night, the adrenaline from finally being with Emily last night did not let her sleep. Emily said she loved herlast night and that she wanted to come to Stanford with her. Nothing could be better. _'I really love you,'_ the memory of those words still make her heart flutter.

The flood of memories after that ignite some left over adrenaline in her; Paige rolls out of bed to slip her swimsuit on. Instead of getting fully dressed, she pulls on a comfortable pair of sweats and a hoodie over her swimsuit. She nearly jumps five feet as the vibration of her phone hums through the room; there is only one person it can be at this hour.

' _I can pick you up on my way to school, if you want a ride?'_

Paige smiles giddily, ' _I would love a ride. I'm just finishing getting ready now.'_

' _I'm just leaving my house now, so I'll be there in a couple minutes. Just come out when you're ready, I don't want to wake your parents.'_

Paige drops her phone back on her bed to hustle over the closet to grab some actual clothes for after practice, she stuffs them in her swim bag followed by necessary toiletries. Then she flicks off the lights in her room and quietly shuffles down the stairs.

"Good to see you bright and early," Paige says as she opens the backdoor of Emily's car to throw her swimming bag in.

"It's only to swim with you that I would consider to get up this early," Emily leans over when Paige slides into the passenger seat to greet her with a peck.

"Well, hopefully I can encourage you to in the future," Paige grins then captures Emily's soft lips for another quick kiss.

"Don't push your luck," Emily chuckles then puts the car back into drive to head through the empty streets of Rosewood. After a moment of silence, Emily reaches over and places her hand on Paige's thigh, causing her to breath out happily and covers Emily's hand with hers.

* * *

About forty-five minutes later, Emily glides gracefully through the water as Paige swims aggressively, trailing only a couple of inches behind her. "Normally," Paige pants between deep breaths as she reaches the wall, "I would be pissed and in denial about you beating me, but if you keep this up for the Stanford coach, she is 100% going to grab you."

The compliment causes Emily to perk up and smirk, "is Paige McCullers admitting that I beat her?"

Paige rests on the lane rope between them, "Don't get use to it, " Emily slowly drifts closer to Paige," Once you're recruited on to Stanford's team expect to never hear those words again."

"You know what I think?" Emily asks, with her lips just an inch away from Paige's, "I think you've gone soft on me."

The lips in front of her distract her mind from retorting back right away, "I don't know what you're talking about," she finally stutters out, her eyes still locked onto those intoxicating lips.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," Emily whispers sensually before leaning into meet her lips. Before Emily can lean back, Paige slides over the lane rope and grabs her neck to pull her in for a harder kiss. Too soon, Emily breaks away again, "Come on lets hit the showers, I'm still going to need coffee and a bagel or something before class starts." Emily pushes herself out of the pool, pulling her swim cap off to let her hair flow on one side of her neck.

Paige grumbles and pulls her swim cap and goggles off as soon as she's out of the pool. When she makes it to the shower stalls, she hears Emily's shower turn on, a thought crosses her mind, a thought that she had before her and Emily finally got together. She has always wished that she could suck up all her courage and do it. Just to be sure, Paige peeps around the corner to make sure no one has slipped into the locker room quietly. Still empty and dead quiet. _Come on, McCullers, Emily says she likes ballsy and bold women. You gotta remind her that's exactly who you are._

She takes a final deep breath before pushing the curtain aside and slipping into Emily's shower, "Paige? What are you-" Emily starts with a growing smirk but is cut off by Paige grabbing her face to press their lips together.

"I thought that I would remind you why you like bold women," Paige pulls away slightly as her hands fall to Emily's bare waist.

Emily bites her lip, letting her eyes wander over Paige's face as water drips down it, then quickly closes the distance by crushing her lips against Paige's. As their kisses grow in intensity, Emily reaches up and pushes the straps of Paige's swimsuit down her arms then peels the rest of the suit down. The swimsuit drops to Paige's feet and she kicks it to the side then pushes Emily up against the wet tile wall behind her. Emily threads her fingers in Paige's soaking hair as the sensitive skin on her neck gets sucked on. She tilts her head to the side to allow Paige better access. Paige brushes her fingers ever so delicately against Emily's inner thigh, tracing teasing patterns that gradually ascend to their destination.

 _Don't beg, Fields,_ Emily thinks to herself just before Paige gives in. "Shhh," Paige places a finger against her lips when Emily groans loudly, "Just in case," her hot breath hits Emily's lips as she pushes inside. Emily grasps the back of her neck to press her lips against Paige's hard, to stifle the noises threatening to escape.

Paige smirks against her lips then returns the urgency in the kisses as she moves her fingers harder. A louder moan vibrates Paige's lips and Emily grabs Paige's hip to pull them into hers and digs her blunt finger tips in slightly as a heat travels up her body. Her knees go numb and Paige's holds her up so she doesn't fall. Emily rests her head in the crook of Paige's neck as water sprays over them. She raises her head slowly to look Paige in the eye; "I think you should remind me of why I like bold women more often." Emily grins widely, showing nearly all of her teeth.

"I think that can be arranged," Paige says in a low husky voice, stroking Emily's side then turns to leave Emily's shower but is stopped by a hand on her forearm.

"Stay, you're already in here, might as well save some water," Emily winks as she steps back under the shower head, " And I haven't returned the favor yet," Paige gets mesmerized by the way the water drips down her body. "I like the sound of that." Their fingers lace together and Emily slowly pulls Paige with her under the water.

* * *

 **That Night**

"Where have you been?" Hanna says gruffly as she swings open the door before Emily has a chance to knock.

"Sorry," Emily grumbles then shuts the door behind her, "I picked up a couple of hours at work."

"Was that necessary?" Hanna questions, insincerely as she climbs the stairs to her room, "We need to get ready for Wilden's funeral tomorrow and I'm still worried that A is going to try to make my mom take the fall for it somehow."

"Han, I told you everything will be okay, your mom didn't do it," Emily tries to assure her for the hundredth time, then takes a seat on Hanna's bed as the blonde sits sideways on the chair near the window.

"A just always has a way to make people look guilty when they are vulnerable," her shoulders start to slump as her heated attitude fades into pure guardedness.

"No matter what we will find a way around it, we always do. This time, we have Mona on our sides."

Hanna opens her mouth to reply and shifts her eyes up to Emily's face then squints her eyes, "Wait, is that a hickey on your neck?"

Immediately, Emily's hand starts rubbing the spot that Hanna is staring at, "What?"

Hanna grabs Emily's hand to yank it away from her neck, "Oh my god! That is a hickey!" Her voice comes out in a stunned shriek as Hanna grins too widely.

The growing blush burns Emily's cheeks, " _A hickey? Really? "_ She thinks to herself, not bothering or knowing what to say to Hanna. It's definitely from this morning. She's never had one before, if it weren't for her current situation, she would find it pretty damn hot.

"When did that happen?" Hanna squeals, clapping her hands together.

"When did what happen?" Aria asks as she strolls through Hanna's door, followed by Spencer, who is typing away on her phone.

" _Oh god,"_ Emily curses silently to herself, knowing this is only going to get worse.

"Emily has a hickey," Hanna points to the spot on her neck and sits up straight in her chair. The blonde is overly satisfied with her discovery.

"What?" Spencer and Aria shout in unison as they round Hanna's bed to stand in front of Emily. Their eyes shift between Emily and Hanna quickly, "When did this happen?" Emily dropped her hand from her neck, it's completely pointless to try to hide it but she still refuses to meet their eyes.

"I don't know, Emily was just going to tell me," Hanna answers from behind them and they turn around to Hanna then step back to where she is sitting so the three of them can stare intensely at Emily with intrigued grins.

Her mind swirls with ideas of how she can possibly get out of this situation but knowing the three of them, they won't be letting this go anytime soon," Fine, I think it was from this morning... we kind of had sex in the shower after we swam this morning."

"At school?" Spencer leans forward while crossing her arms, her eyebrows raised as her eyes widen.

"Yeah, Paige sort of surprised me after practice," she rubs her arm awkwardly, staring at her feet.

"I wish I was gay so I could do that at school easier," Hanna sighs.

"You probably could get away with it. Caleb could easily pass for a girl with that hair," Spencer jokes with a chuckle.

After Hanna shoots Spencer a mocking glare, she pauses, "Wait," she holds her hand up, "Em, I thought you said that you and Paige hadn't…."

"Yeah, Em," Aria chimes in, "I thought you said you wanted it to be special and even though the shower thing sounds great, I wouldn't think that's so special?"

"That's because it wasn't our first time, last night was," Emily huffs, irritated, wanting this conversation to be over already. "Can we get to talking about tomorrow, now?"

Hanna shakes her head, "No, this topic is far more fun than talking about tomorrow."

"Yeah I agree with Hanna," Aria flops down on the bed and laughs at Emily's obvious discomfort.

"You know, I kind of disagree," Spencer motions with her hands and a small shrug, "You guys know how much I like talking about A related things and plans."

"Shut up, Spence," Hanna rolls her eyes dramatically," We are talking about this. A and Wilden give me anxiety."

Emily groans and covers her face with one of Hanna's pillows, "You guys are so nosey!"

* * *

 **Next Day**

The mini downtown of Rosewood is emptier than usual, especially for a Saturday morning. Most people are attending Officer Wilden's funeral, Paige had no initial desire to go except to support Emily because she knew they have had several run-ins since the whole 'A' game started. It didn't take much of Emily's convincing to make her feel like she didn't need to go. Instead, Caleb gave Paige a call earlier in the day to see if she would want to hang out with him at Toby's apartment today.

Before heading up to Toby's place above The Brew, Paige pauses in front of the counter, missing those glowing chocolate eyes and that sparkling smile that she has grown use to seeing every time she comes in here. Instead she has to order from a tall blonde kid, who is a year below them in school. "Can I just get a green tea today?"

"Yes, you can," the barista scribbles on a cup, "I'm guessing Emily is at the funeral today?"

"Yeah," Paige nods, "Well, Wilden was set on the Alison case. They had several run-ins as the whole town probably knows," she mumbles with a small smile.

He chuckles quietly; "Yeah news carries fast in Rosewood, especially with those four girls. How did you get out of going to the funeral?" The barista asks as he begins making the green tea.

Paige laughs lightly, "Not much, surprisingly, I'm actually on my way up to hang out with Toby and a friend upstairs."

"Sounds a hell of a lot more exciting than a funeral and this job," the tea slides across the counter towards her.

Paige knocks on the small grey door of Toby's apartment and sips her cup of tea as she waits, " I thought I heard you down there," Toby greets her and leans against his door.

"I can't walk through The Brew and not get something to drink," she shakes her cup in her hand while walking through the open door.

"I thought the only reason you ever went to The Brew was for Emily," Caleb grins teasingly from the couch and let's a controller dangles in his hand.

"She's my girlfriend!" She slips her jacket off and throws it over a chair, "I'm allowed to do that!"

"Shut up and come play with us," his hand motions at the TVs that have the PlayStation home screen displayed.

Paige turns to face the TVs with her hands on her hips, "What are you guys playing?"

"We were playing GTA but now that you are here, I think some COD might be a better idea," Caleb leans forward on his knees as he changes the games around for them.

Toby comes up behind her and places his hand on her back, "We also have some pizza and breadsticks coming,"

Paige nods approvingly, "I should really hang out with you guys more often. This definitely beats being stuck at a funeral."

* * *

"Why the hell do I suck today?" Caleb drops his controller into his lap and covers his face.

Toby beams contentedly then whispers to Paige, "He is just mad our KD ratio is better than his today."

"Hey," Caleb turns to point at Toby, "On any other day I would beat you and you," he shifts his finger to Paige.

"You have yet to prove that to me," Paige teases while dipping a bread stick in the marinara sauce in front of them. Her phone buzzes in her jean pocket, she feels her heart skipping happily, thinking its Emily but is immediately let down when she sees that it's Shana.

' _Heard that you were lucky enough to be picked to be on Stanford's swim team. I hear that they have one left. Don't let your girl Emily get her hopes up too much because I have my eye on it.'_

Her jaw clenches as her blood begins to boil. _Shana is going for a spot at Stanford? Why can't she go away?_ "Everything okay?" Toby asks with concern as he notices the anger filling up in Paige's eyes and that her knuckles are turning white as she grips her phone in one hand and the controller in the other.

Paige drops her phone on the couch and shakes her head slightly, "It's just that girl Shana. I haven't told anyone besides Emily, really but I got a full ride to Stanford for swimming..."

Before she can finish her sentence, Toby raises his hand to give her a high five, she smiles and meets his hand, "That's awesome! Congrats! Emily must be so proud."

"I told you, you would kick ass," Caleb smiles proudly, "Now when I go to visit my mom in California, we can hit the beaches together!"

"That's not all, I told Emily last night and she told me she wanted to be there at Stanford with me. So I'm working with the scout at the school to see if they will come watch her because she's better than me, of course they will want her," her tone fills with irritation again and she hits the buttons on the controller harder. "But, Shana just texted me basically saying she will get the last spot and not Emily."

"Shana is bad news," Toby shakes his head, not taking his eyes of the screen in front of him, "She spends too much time with my sister."

"Dude," Caleb states frankly, "Paige and Shana dated. She knows she's bad news."

Paige cringes at the memory; she even forgets that they dated most of the time. "You and Shana dated?" Toby scrunches his nose.

"Yeah," Paige nods barely, trying to avoid being killed in the game, " Over the summer. Tried to use her to get over Emily, obviously didn't work."

"Well, for the record, I'm glad it didn't work because you wouldn't be hanging out with the two best guys you could ask for," Toby smirks to himself, "But, seriously stay away from Shana."

"It's not like I want her near me," Paige scoffs and shakes her head, "Life just has away of throwing her back into my life. The whole costume thing and now Stanford thing," she leans her forearms on her knees to focus hard on the game in front of her.

For a second, Caleb glances away from the TV in Paige's direction, "I wouldn't worry about it. You know that Emily will kick her ass in swimming."

She knows Caleb's right, Emily does kick ass in swimming, she's amazing and will blow the coaches away. She just wants nothing to get in the way of the dream her and Emily are forming together.


	21. Chapter 21

**I tried to get this chapter up a bit quicker than the last couple. Thank you for the recent follows and favorites! Glad you guys continue to enjoy my take on their story :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

 **Later that night**

On her laptop at home, Paige scrolls through the different dorm room layouts on Stanford's website. Most people at college complain about their dorm rooms, especially freshmen year, they are notorious for being small with dirty communal bathrooms and on top of all that they have to suffer with a horrible roommate that they can't get along with. For her, it's quite the opposite; Stanford has dorm rooms that are spacey than her room here. There is an option to set up a mini-lounge area with a couch and TV that Paige chooses to place right in front of the two twin size beds that are for her and Emily. _Emily._ The thought of the future break her face out into a smile and her heart warms with pure bliss. One of the best parts of being gay is being able to have her girlfriend as her roommate in college. She definitely won't struggle with the infamous horrible roommate drama, there is no one she would rather wake up and see everyday other than Emily. Waking up to those glowing brown eyes and that dreamy smile that makes Paige's stomach explode in butterflies. They won't even have the dirty communal bathroom problem because they have their own for just the two of them. _This must be a dream_ , Paige thinks to herself.

The Stanford coach is going to be here in two days to watch her and Emily; _she's going to blow them away_. She looks back to their future room on her screen, its perfect. Tomorrow she will show Emily this; hopefully it'll give her extra encouragement to practice even harder. Her parents, especially her dad probably won't be too ecstatic about the idea that she will be living with her girlfriend her first year in college but ultimately it isn't up to them. They will both be eighteen by then and their parents won't have a say in the matter.

There is a soft knock on her door before it slowly cracks open, "Paige?" her mom pokes her head in, "Dinner is ready, what are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry," Paige closes the lid of her laptop, "I was just looking at the rooms at Stanford."

"You'll have to show me what you have come up with after dinner," her mom smiles lightly then turns to head downstairs.

Paige presses the home screen button on her phone, still nothing from Emily. She hasn't heard from her since she left to go to the funeral. As always, she begins to panic and assume the worst. _What if something happened?_

Earlier in Toby's apartment, he got a text that made his eyes go wide and he left quickly. He claimed it was nothing. Maybe 'A' got to him with something. Paige decides to text Emily and try to put her angsts at ease, ' _How was the funeral? Was everything okay?'_

Before she wanders downstairs for dinner, she grabs Emily's sweatshirt from her dresser and slips it over her head. The faint smell of chlorine mixed with vanilla wrap around her with warmth and security, her anxious heart starts slowing down and regaining control.

* * *

"Come on, Em, let me get you some ice, " Hanna insists when they get back to her house.

Emily clutches her shoulder; trying to not let any more tears fall from the horrendous pain radiating from her shoulder. She knows what she did was the right thing to do; 'A' would've killed Mona and Aria with their car. But, the selfish part of Emily's brain can only think about Stanford and Paige. _What if she hurt her shoulder so bad she can't swim for awhile?_

She lowers herself into a kitchen chair as Hanna struts over with a bag of ice in her hand, "You know you didn't have to do that for Mona."

The coolness of the ice causes her to flinch at the stinging sensation; "I couldn't let 'A' run over Mona and Aria."

Her tense shoulders drop as Hanna exhales, "I know but you could've been killed too. But, are you going to be okay to swim? What are you going to tell Paige?"

As usual, she's going to be pushed to lie to Paige; that's the worst thing about the 'A' game, having to lie to Paige in order to protect her safety. "I don't know yet," Emily shakes her head, "The Stanford coach is suppose to be coming to the swim meet this week, I need to be able to swim."

"I'm sure your shoulder will be fine by the meet," Hanna states overconfidently, " By the end of the week, you'll be on Stanford's team picking out those puffy drapes with Paige."

Emily can't suppress the grin that splits across her face at the thought of living with Paige at Stanford, "You're probably right, I hope so at least."

"I am right! You are so lucky that you have the option to live with Paige next year. Living in your own little world. Away from this. Away from 'A'," her tone seeping with hopeful emotion," And probably having lots of sex."

"Hanna!" Emily shrieks with a small laugh.

"Like you haven't thought about that!" She dismissively waves her hand at Emily. The phone sitting in front of Hanna dings and lights up with a message, Emily immediately tenses, assuming the worst. "Em," Hanna smiles reassuringly, "It's just Caleb, he said that him, Toby and Paige had a game day today."

"That sounds a lot more fun than that funeral today and tonight's disaster," Emily rolls her eyes and grabs her own phone to respond to Paige's message from earlier.

' _The funeral was exciting as funerals get. I'm sorry that I didn't message you right away. The rest of the day has been pretty busy. I heard that you had a game day with the boys. Wish I had been there instead. I miss you 3.'_

* * *

 **Next Day**

"Hi," Emily opens the front door, smiling then places a soft peck on Paige's lips.

"Hey," Paige whispers back then meets Emily's kind brown eyes, "How's your shoulder feeling?"

She gently rubs a hand over her shoulder. "Still stiff, I was just looking for a heating pad," Emily closes the door then turns to see Paige's face rigid with concern, "It should be fine by tomorrow, I'll be fine."

"It needs to be," Paige takes a step closer to Emily then gestures towards her with her hands, "Can I give it a massage or something?"

Emily takes a sharp inhale through her nose, she hates herself for lying to Paige about how much pain she is in. But, she can't let the story from last night leak, she needs to convince herself and Paige that she will be strong enough to swim tomorrow to impress Stanford, "Just help me look for that heating bad. But, I might take you up on that massage later." Emily says with a suggestive hint in her voice before kissing Paige sensually and letting her lips linger briefly.

Her eyes are still fluttered closed as she is left breathless from the kiss, "good, good," she finally manages to murmur under her breath before following Emily into the bathroom.

After a couple minutes of digging through the cabinets in the bathroom, Paige finds the heating pad hidden beneath a stack of bath towels. "Em? I think I found it," she holds out the heating pad to show and Emily breathes a sigh of relief, "Thank you, I've been looking for that everywhere.

Emily hands Paige the remote when they sit on the couch," Find something you want to watch as I try to figure out this heating pad."

"You mean you aren't going to make me watch Rudy?" Paige flashes Emily a teasing grin as she starts flipping through the menu.

"Shut up," Emily giggles as she messes with the heating pad. "Really?" Emily looks up at the TV, "Law and Order? Out of all things you choose Law and Order?"

"Did you see anything better?" Her eyebrow is quirked when she turns to face Emily with a playful challenging tone in her voice.

Emily chews on her lip in defeat, "I guess not," then puts the heating pad down beside her to lift her shirt over her head, grimacing at the sharp pain shooting in her shoulder.

The exposed skin causes Paige's eyes to widen happily, "I see something better now."

The way Paige's eyes roam over her nearly bare torso cause Emily's cheek to turn a shade of pink, "The heating pad said it works best directly on the skin," she adjusts her position to attempt to hide her shoulder for as long as possible. The girls told her it looks pretty bad, Paige will probably know that Emily didn't "sleep funny' once she gets a site of her shoulder.

"I'm secretly hoping that doesn't work," Paige smirks at Emily as her eyes shift up from Emily's toned stomach up to her black lace bra.

"That's not so secret anymore," Emily teases with a flirty smile then bumps Paige's shoulder.

Paige laughs, dipping her head slightly before she places a gentle kiss on Emily's cheek and entwines their hands. The affectionate action makes Emily's heart flutter in her chest and smiles lovingly at Paige as she gazes at her face. "So…What's happening in this episode?" Emily nods her head towards the TV.

Paige shrugs, "I have no idea now, I got a bit distracted," she winks in Emily's direction.

They sit in a comfortable silence for a while, letting their thumbs brush over each other's hands every so often. The heating pad is helping relieve some of the tension in her shoulder that the pills didn't fix but she can feel a slight twinge of pain. Emily takes off the heating pad and drops it next to her on the couch before she scoots closer to Paige.

"Did it help?" Paige asks when she hears the heating pad drop to the cushion.

"Yeah, I think-," Emily starts but is cut off when Paige catches a glimpse of her exposed shoulder, "Whoa, Em, it looks really bad! Are you sure you're okay?"

Emily glances over her shoulder and sighs, "It's worse than it looks. But, I promise it helped."

"Are you sure? It looks like you really messed it up! Are you sure you don't need a massage?"

Emily leans in and kisses Paige slowly then teasingly runs her tongue across her lips before she breaks away, "I might not need one but I want one."

Paige nods speechlessly then scratches the back of her head, "Um, is your mom going to be home soon? I don't want her to walk in on us with you pretty much half naked…"

Emily pauses to check the time on her phone, "It's not even five yet. Since Wilden, she's been working a lot later than normal. Plus, she will call me on her way home probably to check to see what we have for dinner."

"Okay," Paige exhales, "Turn a bit, so I can get a good angle at your back, " she gives a slight tilt to her head as she shifts to fully face Emily on the couch.

Emily smiles then turns her back towards Paige. As Paige positions herself, Emily reaches behind her back to unhook her bra and lets it fall in her lap. A breath gets stuck in Paige's throat as she gently starts rubbing Emily's neck and working her way down to her shoulders. The discoloration around Emily's right shoulder is much worse than Paige could have imagined it. Her anxiety kicks up when she figures out this couldn't have possibly come from "sleeping funny". There is something that Emily hasn't told her, leaving the pit of her stomach unsettled.

Emily allows herself relax into Paige's touch, enjoying the way her strong hands work against her strained muscles. "Does this hurt at all?" Paige asks quietly as she applies a little more pressure.

"No," Emily hums, "it feels wonderful." Even Emily's back is beautiful in Paige's eyes, the way it curves and the defined muscles around her upper back and shoulders are gorgeous. She brushes Emily's hair to the side and places tender kisses along the back of Emily's neck. The electrifying kisses cause Emily's eyes to flutter shut and she moans softly. Emily tilts her head back to capture Paige's lips in an open-mouthed kiss. Paige's hands drop to Emily's waist to hold her tightly but Emily immediately turns in the embrace and wraps her arms around Paige's neck. As their lips move quicker together, Emily grips the collar of Paige's flannel and pushes it off her shoulders. Her body is already buzzing for more of Paige. Paige immediately throws her shirt to the floor. Her head is completely dizzy and intoxicated with Emily's kisses. She leans forward with her body weight until Emily's back hits the couch and she falls on top of her. The irritating ringing of Emily's phone breaks Paige's slightly out of her daze.

"Do you want to check that?" Paige mumbles between kisses when the ringing doesn't stop.

"Not really," Emily whispers breathlessly, sucking on Paige's lower lip as her hands start to push her white tank top up her body.

"What if it's your mom?" Paige slows their kisses, reluctantly trying to force them to think clearly.

Emily inhales deeply, wanting Paige's tank top off but knowing it's a good idea that her mom isn't warning them that she's going to be home soon. "Yeah, true. Can you grab me my phone? You kind of have me trapped." She adds with a lighthearted tone and small smirk.

Paige sits up, straddling Emily's waist and reaches over for her phone on the table as it rings again in her hand, "It's Hanna." Instantly feeling relieved that it's not Pam on her way home.

"She can definitely wait," Emily dismisses it quickly before she grabs Paige's face and crashes their lips back together. Her hands find the hem of Paige's tank top again and yank the material hard up her body, causing her to whimper involuntarily at the sudden sharp pain in her arm. Paige pulls away, breathing hard and her face scrunched with concern, "Em? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she lies then tries to pull Paige's face back down towards her. Her brow creases when Paige resists, "Maybe we shouldn't. You need to rest your shoulder for tomorrow."

Emily grunts, internally frustrated with her shoulder. "I told you, I'm fine, I promise. Plus, I don't need my shoulder for this." Her tongue licks her lips sexily, the action makes Paige's mind to go blank and she almost gives in but shakes her head of the thought, "I don't want to risk it. You need to be on your game for Stanford tomorrow. Then we can do this as much as we want when we have that room together next year."

The crease in Emily's forehead fades at the reminder of the goal tomorrow and a wide hopeful grin splits across her face, "Fine. You're probably right." Her fingers trace along the back of Paige's neck, "Put your shirt back on before I change my mind."

* * *

 **Next Night**

The emergency room keeps spinning around Emily, the noises echoing and seeming distant. "Emily Fields?" A woman's voice asks her but she can't make out the blurry face, but she assumes it is a doctor or nurse.

"Yes?," she slurs her answer, trying to focus in on the face near her. All she can see is blurred brunette hair and a blue scrub.

"I see that you had an accident during a swim meet and need a couple of stitches. Can I take a look at your head?"

Her eyes begin to gradually refocus when the nurse hovers over her and brushes her fingers above her eyebrow. "They didn't let me finish the race," Emily mumbles.

"You were in no shape to finish a race," the nurse states firmly, "The paramedics mentioned you said that you injured your shoulder a couple of days ago?"

"I told them I fell off my bike," Emily says a little clearer, her eyes start to be able to make out smaller details of the nurse's face. The light green eyes looking down on her become sharper.

"I'm going to need to take a look at that shoulder when I'm done with these couple of stitches. Now this is going to hurt a bit," the nurse warns her before she starts threading her head. There is only a slight pinch that Emily can feel, assuming that all those pills that she took are still working.

"I'm looking for Emily Fields, she came in with an injured head? I need to see her!" Her favorite worried voice echoes in Emily's ears.

"Paige?" She tries to call out in a louder voice but the nurse hushes her and asks her to stay still before she is able to lean up to find Paige.

Paige faintly hears Emily's feeble voice calling out for her and spins in the direction of her voice. She immediately marches towards Emily's hospital bed in the far corner but is blocked by another nurse before she can make it. "That's my girlfriend!" Her hand points to Emily getting her head stitched up, "Can I please go see her?" She begs the nurse but she shakes her head, "No, I'm sorry. Not until her family is here."

"Emily?" An older voice calls out frantically.

"Pam!" Paige calls out when she spots her scanning through hospital beds. Pam relaxes significantly when they make eye contact and rushes over, "Paige! Is Emily okay?"

"They won't let me see her!" Her voice cracks with worry and frustration as she motions to the nurses in her way.

Pam grabs Paige's arm and pushes through the couple of nurses standing in the way, ignoring their demands to stop. The nurse stitching up Emily's head looks up, "Excuse me?"

"I am Emily's mother and this is Emily's girlfriend. We want to be with her," Pam demands sternly as Emily instinctively reaches out for Paige's hand. Paige sighs with a little relief, taking Emily's hand between both of hers and kisses her knuckles soothingly. A weak smile tugs at the corners of Emily's lips, feeling more relaxed now that Paige is here.

"What happened?" Pam's eyes dart between Emily, the nurse and Paige.

"She hit her head when she was swimming. She might be a little bit disoriented right now. I unfortunately don't know what caused her to hit her head, if it was just an accident. She should be able to tell you when her head starts to clear up," the nurse briefly explains to Pam as she finished up the final stitch.

Emily breathes in sharply and squeezes Paige's hand tighter as guilt starts to wrap around her, knowing she hasn't been completely honest with Paige about her shoulder and that she might have messed up her chances for Stanford. The thought of Stanford making her panic inside, her heart starts speeding up and she tries to fight the tears shaking deep in her eyes.

"She did mention something about her shoulder, I gave it a quick look and I think she needs further consulting," the nurse jots down a specialists name to hand to Pam before she walks away.

"Did you know about this?" Pam whispers quietly in Paige's ear.

"I didn't know how bad it was," Paige shrugs, already knowing that Emily didn't tell her everything about her shoulder. The glossy brown eyes looking at her, confirm her suspicions.

"Come on sweetie," Pam motions for Emily to get up, "Let's get you home and rested."

Emily slowly swings her legs over the side of the bed, her head still spinning slightly, "Can Paige come for a bit?"

Pam smiles warmly at Paige and nods, "Of course"

Paige wraps her arm around Emily's waist when she notices her wobbly legs when she goes to stand up. Her strong arm holds her girlfriend up as Emily loops one arm around Paige's neck for additional support before walking out.


	22. Chapter 22

**As you may have noticed, I have uploaded a cover photo! My wonderful girlfriend, who is my beta reader, drew this amazing picture just for my** **story. I hope you all like it! She clearly has far better drawing skills than I do, mine would look like a 5 year old drew it. Anyways, happy reading! I hope you all love this chapter, I feel like this was really missed in season 4.**

 **Chapter 22**

"Paige?" Her mom calls out when Paige shuts the front door behind her.

"Hi, mom," Paige responds before rounding the corner to the living room to see her dad sitting next to her mom on the couch watching the evening news together. "Hi, dad," she adds with a bitter undertone.

"How was the meet?" He questions in a monotone voice, not taking his eyes off the screen in front of him. The only thing he would care about hearing are her times and her wins.

"It was okay…" Paige looks down at her shoes, "Emily got injured and had to go to this hospital."

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" Her mom inquires with sincere concern; turning to face Paige while her dad doesn't even bother to look away from the TV.

"The doctors don't really know," the little lie causes her to shift uncomfortably on her feet, " Something caused her vision to go blurry and she had no depth perception. So, she ended up hitting the wall with her head and had to get a couple stitches."

Her mom covers her mouth and shakes her head, "What could've caused that? I hope its nothing serious!"

"She is having more tests done this week, so we will see," her fingers tug at her sleeves anxiously, "I'm going to head to bed so I can get up early tomorrow and see if she needs anything." Paige turns on her heels and heads for the stairs.

"Goodnight, sweetie," her mom yells out after her. As she walks the stairs, she can hear her mom lecture her dad about his unreasonable disinterest in her relationship with Emily. He only sees Emily as the competition and thinks she stands in her way to become to star of the team.

As soon as she shuts her bedroom door, she dials Caleb to enlighten him of the information she finally pulled out of Emily. "Has Hanna talked to you about Mona and Aria nearly being squashed by a car?" She blurts out as soon as the ringing stops.

"No, she hasn't," the typing of a keyboard on the other end stops, "her mind has been elsewhere lately. What happened though?"

One leg curls under her as she takes a seat on the edge of her bed, "Mona went with the girls to retrieve some RV or something a couple of nights ago. When Mona went to get in her car, she got nearly attacked by a black hoodie then the son of a bitch tried to run Mona and Aria over with the car. And of course, Emily rescued them but flew into a rock and fucked up her shoulder."

"Well, I guess that's karma for Mona for when she pretty much tried to murder Hanna with her car last year," Caleb scoffs with a breathy laugh, "But, are you serious about Emily? Is that why she had that accident in the pool today?"

"Yeah," she shakes her head and bites her lip, "Her shoulder was in so much pain that she stole some of her mom's prescription meds and took way too many. So, she bashed her into the wall during her lap. She had a couple of stitches in her head."

"Is she okay? What did the doctors say?" There is a squeak on the other end of the phone as Caleb adjusts in his chair, his voice deep with concern.

"They- I don't know," her voice shakes as hurt, frustration and anger spiral through her, " She's going to a doctor in a couple of days to have her shoulder checked. Her shoulder needs to be okay! She just agreed to go to Stanford with me next year," she buries her face in her free hand, trying to hold back the tears from falling down her face.

"Hey," Caleb says sternly, "It's going to be alright. Emily is a fighter, she will find a way to get through this and you guys will be together at Stanford next year. Living your dream together, away from Mona, away from 'A' and you guys will be stronger because of it."

"Wow," Paige sniffs back tears and swipes at the stray tears leaking out of her eyes; "I didn't know you had all of that in you."

Caleb chuckles, " Hanna brings it out in me. But, right now, I need to help Hanna with her mess and you need to help Emily get through this in order for either of us to get our happy endings with them."

"I know," Paige pushes some hair behind her ear, "Thanks for listening to me ramble and vent. I'll see you when you get back."

"For sure, I should be back soon. I'm going to text Emily now because it sounds like she could really use it."

"She would really appreciate that, thanks. Night, Caleb," the phone falls from her ear as she falls back on her bed. Her mind trying to think of ways to help Emily get through this so they can start that real life together, in that room that Paige made for them.

* * *

 **Next Morning**

6:00 am lights up on the clock as Emily's hand blindly slaps around until it successfully hits the snooze button. The throbbing in her head is a harsh reminder of her accident yesterday. She grips the covers tightly around her, feeling so angry and discouraged about Stanford and her future with Paige. Tears quickly start forming in the back of her eyes. All she wants is to be with Paige at Stanford in that room Paige created for them. Living a life 'A' free, a free life all the way in California. No more lies or secrets. Just her and Paige together, cuddling in their beds that they would push together, going to class together, studying on the beach, driving cross country with donuts and diners. The tears pour down Emily's face and she has to bite down on her lip to prevent a loud sob from escaping her chest. She wipes the tears away with her long sleeve and tries to regain composure of herself. She can't be weak for 'A' otherwise she will suffer another blow. Finally, she slowly pushes herself up in bed, flinching at the sharp twinge in her shoulder. The sun seeping through her blinds stings her overly sensitive eyes, that she is sure are swollen and red. She unplugs her phone to check her missed messages, feeling relieved when she doesn't see a blocked ID text message in her inbox.

Someone must have told the girls about her injury last night because her inbox is full of messages from them, the swim team, Caleb and Paige. She opens Paige's messages first; one only came in a few minutes ago.

' _Good morning, beautiful. I hope you are feeling a little better this morning. If you feel up to going to school, I'll give you a ride.'_

 _Beautiful._ Her heart flutters cheerfully in her chest for the first time today, she still feels incredibly lucky to have such a sweet girlfriend. ' _Just a bit of a headache. Mom wouldn't let me miss school anyway. Pick me up a little after 7?'_

She tosses her phone on her bed to start getting ready. About fifteen minutes later, there is a quiet tap on her door, "Emily?"

"Yeah, mom? I'm awake," she answers as she applies a light layer of foundation in front of her mirror on her desk.

The door gradually opens, "Oh, good," her mom nods, leaning on her door handle, "How are you feeling today?"

Emily exhales loudly as puts her make up down on her desk, "My head hurts a bit still. I'll take some Tylenol or something before Paige picks me up."

Her mom studies her with caring eyes, "Good, it's probably good if you don't drive. I made a doctor's appointment for you after school today at four. I want to help you get to the bottom of this quickly."

"Thanks, mom," she smiles weakly, "I need to finish getting ready." The door shuts quietly and Emily starts skimming through clothes in her closet until she decides what she wants to wear. Black leggings and a blue varsity style jacket seems to be the most comfortable outfit that she can wear when she is feeling down.

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rings and her mom is quick to answer it. She can hear the genuine smile in her mom's voice as she gets talking to Paige. Her heart warms happily, she is still ecstatic that her mom loves Paige; she has come such a long ways in a year.

She drops some of her schoolwork in her bag before going downstairs. The large brown orbs light up as they connect with Emily's. But, Paige doesn't fail to notice the red tint in her subtly swollen eyes.

Her mom hands her a glass of water and two Tylenol capsules when she reaches the bottom of the stairs, "I was just telling Paige that you need to get some food in your stomach because you haven't eaten much and that you can't have coffee until your head starts clearing up a little more."

Emily tries not to roll her eyes as she swallows the pills because coffee is necessary right now. "Don't worry, Pam. I'll take care of her," Paige reaches up to rub Emily's back.

"I gotta get to work," her mom glances at her watch and picks up her brief case. "Let me know how the doctor goes, take it easy today, please," She presses a soft kiss to the side of Emily's head then turns to Paige before heading out the door, "Thanks for taking such good care of Emily. Please come over for dinner sometime soon."

"Of course," Paige smiles and nods graciously, "I would love to."

As soon as the door clicks close, Paige runs both hands over Emily's upper arms and looks at her thoughtfully, "Are you okay?"

"I told you, it's just a sore head and I'm getting my shoulder checked out after school," Emily reiterates gently as she looks back into Paige's deep felt eyes.

Paige reaches up to caress her cheek, "I know that," her thumb carefully brushes over the soft skin there and Emily leans into her touch, "I meant I can see it in your eyes."

The only response Emily can give Paige is to wrap her arms tightly around her and rest her head on her shoulder. Needing her to be close. Paige presses her lips into her hair as she rubs her back soothingly, "You had the whole team worried last night."

"I know," Emily, breathes unevenly as she holds back the tears that are prickling the back of her eyes, "I got like a million texts from them last night."

Paige nuzzles her cheek to the top of Emily's head, "And when they didn't hear from you, they bombarded me with texts. So, I took care of them."

Emily leans her head up then circles her arms around Paige's neck until they fall into a long slow kiss. They rest their foreheads together as their lips break apart, "I just can't stop thinking about us together in that room at Stanford. Please tell me everything is going to be okay." Stray tears trickle down Emily's face as her voice cracks slightly with left over emotion.

"Whatever it is, we will work through it together," Paige brushes away the tears on Emily's cheeks with her thumbs, "Me and you, together, like we planned." She kisses Emily's cheek softly, "Right now, we need to get you some breakfast I promised your mom."

Emily laughs weakly, "I suppose that means you'll be holding your promise about the coffee too?"

"A promise is a promise," Paige grins lightheartedly as she slides her hand down Emily's forearm until their fingers lace together.

* * *

 **After School**

The locker room is packed with girls already changed for swimming, loud chatter filling the air with subtle pings of locker doors closing. As one of the captains, Paige usually likes to arrive early and warm up a bit. Since Emily came back on the team last year, she tried to push herself to swim more mornings just so she could run into her. More time spent in the morning meant she was too exhausted after team practice to keeping going. However today, she spent an additional half hour after school trying to convince Emily that everything is going to be okay and they are in this together, no matter what the doctor says this afternoon. Deep down, she is terrified of the outcome and how that could potentially affect the future they recently planned together.

Her head is so wrapped up in her thoughts that she doesn't see the coach bump into her. The coach snaps her eyes up away from the clipboard in her hands, "Oh, Paige! I'm glad you're here. How's Emily doing today?"

"She's doing okay," Paige runs her index finger and thumb along the strap over her shoulder, "She's at a doctor's appointment to get her shoulder checked out."

"I hope the doctor has good news," the tone is more professional than sympathetic, "Practice is going to start soon, go get changed."

Paige just nods in response then makes her way over to her locker. The coach's tone echoes in her head, irritating her even more. She misses coach Fulton; she was kind and cared so much more for the team and Emily. This new coach, coach Johnson, treats Emily like a disease almost, clearly punishing her for events out of Emily's control. Hopefully, Coach Fulton will be back soon and Emily will get the respect that she deserves from the coach. She swings her locker door open and quickly strips her clothes off. "So? No Emily today?" Anna leans against the lockers with a frown and her arms crossed her chest.

"No," Paige breathes, shaking her head, " She's got a doctor's appointment this afternoon for her shoulder."

Anna drops her gaze to her bare feet as Paige pulls her swimsuit up, "How's her head doing? It looked pretty bad in the pool."

"It looked worse than it was. She just needed a couple of stitches and had a bit of a head ache today," Paige mumbles sadly.

"She's going to be okay, Paige," Anna gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze before walking away, "Give her a hug for me when you see her."

While Paige slips on her swim cap, her phone vibrates with a text. She grabs it quickly, thinking it might be Emily needing her. But, she rolls her eyes dramatically when she sees that its Shana. ' _Too bad for your girl Emily yesterday. That little mishap might have made it easier for me to get the last spot on your team.'_

Her pulse thuds hard in her ears from her blood boiling from anger. This time she's not going to ignore Shana. She tried to act mature in the past by simply ignoring her messages. ' _Even when Emily is injured, she's a better swimmer than you. I would not be counting on that last spot because karma will bite you in the ass before then.'_

With that, Paige chucks her phone into her locker and slams the door behind it; the metal bang vibrates off the walls creating a loud boom through out the locker room.

Two hours later, Paige is one of the last swimmers out of the locker room after practice ends. She walks leisurely as she texts Emily back. ' _Are you sure you're okay to drive? I can pick you up and bring you to my house if you want me to.'_

"Night, Paige! Tell Emily I'm thinking of her and I hope she feels better soon," Nicole walks backwards and waves at her.

"I will!" She returns the wave with a small one-sided smile. After turning back towards her car, she spots Caleb leaning against the side of her car. One hand in his jeans pocket and the other holding his phone, as his thumb taps quickly on the screen. "Hey, you're back," Paige stops in front of him.

He glances up from his phone with a subtle smile, "Yeah, I just got back a little bit ago. No Emily at practice tonight?"

"No," she shakes her head, "She had a doctor's appointment today but she's on her way to my house right now. Did you find your dad?"

He shoves his phone in his jacket pocket and leaves his hand covering it, " I finally found him by some lake…. we worked things out after we went fishing."

Paige raises her eyebrows with a mocking smirk at the image of Caleb fishing. It is hard to imagine him without some sort of technology glued to his eyes or hands. "Listen," he starts again, "have you heard from Toby?"

Paige shakes her head again, "No, the last time I talked to him was this weekend at his place with you." Toby's abnormal behavior replays in her mind, his demeanor completely changing after getting a text. Her gut tells her this is A's doing, the reaction is all too familiar.

"Something's up," Caleb stares off into the school's dark empty parking lot and shakes his head faintly, "I'll see if I can get a hold of him. I just feel like its 'A' or Mona related."

Paige glances down at her feet and sighs deeply then draws her eyes back up, "Isn't it always?"

Caleb chews on the inside of his lip, silently agreeing with Paige, "The girls must know something."

"I'm sure at least Spencer knows or even Emily, her and Toby have always had a close friendship," Paige unzips the side of her bag to pull her car keys out, "I can ask Emily when I get home?"

Caleb nods, stepping away from Paige's car so she can get into the drivers seat, then leans against her open door, "You might not get a straight answer out of her."

The truth makes Paige slump her shoulders sadly, "I know, but it's worth a try. I'll let you know if I find anything out." She offers him one final smile before closing her door and pulling out of the parking lot.


	23. Chapter 23

**I am so sorry this chapter took so long to post! Unfortunately, a lot of stuff came up that had to be put before writing because that's life. But, I hope you all had a great Halloween! Happy November!**

 **Chapter 23**

"I brought Chinese," Emily holds up the two plastic take out bags in her hands as she walks up Paige's drive way.

Paige shuts her car door and slings her swim bag over her left shoulder, "Food is the way to my heart, especially after swim practice."

"I have become well aware of that," Emily tilts her head to one side with a small smirk pulling at the corner of her lips, "So, let's get inside and eat up."

Paige takes a step closer to plant a chaste kiss on Emily's cheek as she slips a bag out of her right hand. "Hey, mom," Paige says when she opens the front door to see her mom heading up stairs, "Emily is here with dinner so we can study together for math."

Her mom smiles while Emily steps inside behind her, "Hi, Emily. How are you feeling today? Paige told me about yesterday!"

"I'm doing okay," Emily replies with a half hearted shrug, "I had a doctor's appointment after school today, so I guess we will see what's going on with my shoulder soon."

"I hope you can be back in the water soon," her mom leans against the railing on her elbows," I know that Paige has been having high hopes for you two at Stanford together."

The statement causes Paige's face to blush a light shade of pink, even though it's obvious that Emily shares that dream of their future with her. "I have high hopes for it as well. Paige has really sold me on that California dream," she nudges Paige's side gently, "She kept showing me that beautiful campus and talking about studying on the beach. How could I say no?"

"I wish I could've had that option," her mom sighs longingly, "Well, I'll let you girls eat and get to work." She stands to continue upstairs, "I'm glad to see you're doing better today, Emily."

"Thank you, Mrs. McCullers," Emily smiles graciously before following Paige into the living room.

As soon as they sit down on the leather couch, Paige starts ripping open the bags, "What? I told you I was hungry!" Paige chuckles when she notices Emily staring at her with an amused expression.

"Will I be able to eat or will you just eat it all?" Emily jokes.

Paige tears open the first Chinese food box, "Mmmm. Sweat and sour chicken," she hums then looks back at Emily, "I think I'll share, only because I love you though."

Emily shakes her head with a growing grin as she grabs the other Chinese box. "But, you'll have to tell me what the doctor said," Paige requests kindly as she fumbles with the chopsticks between her fingers.

Emily shrugs and pokes at the broccoli and beef in front of her, "Not that much today, at least. He just wants me to go back in a couple of days for an MRI." Her smile fades the words pass through her lips.

"At least it wasn't bad news," Paige attempts to point out the positive side; her fingers struggle to get another piece of chicken into her mouth.

"Yeah," Emily exhales heavily, "I guess I'm just worried what the MRI might show," her voice pauses and her eyebrows raise in amusement when she notices Paige's fingers slipping through the chopsticks clumsily, "Having a little trouble there?"

Paige glances up to see Emily biting back a laugh, "I ummm…have never been particularly good at using chopsticks."

"And I thought you were good with you fingers," Emily teases and tries to hide her smirk by stuffing a huge bite of food in her mouth.

Paige pokes her tongue against her cheek to stop her from laughing at Emily's rather clever comment. "You already know that my fingers are good at many things," her fingers trail teasingly along Emily's thigh as she leans into barely brush their lips together. Emily follows her lips, but Paige keeps pulling back.

Eventually, Emily opens her eyes to see Paige successfully putting a piece of chicken in her mouth with a smug grin plastered on her face. "Fine, you win!"

The vibration on the couch makes them both jump out of the moment, Emily sighs in relief when she looks at her phone, "It's only Aria," she clarifies when she spots Paige's eyes going wide with concern.

' _Do you want to go through the box of Ali's stuff tonight?'_

"Do you need to go?" Paige mumbles pessimistically, accustomed to Emily leaving whenever she gets texts then lying about where she's going. Leaving her anxious, scared and hurt every time.

"No," Emily shakes her head as she texts Aria back to tell her she's with Paige and it'll have to wait until tomorrow. "I'm with you right now, Aria can wait."

Paige cracks a smile at her with a mouth full of food then reaches up to brush a strand of hair behind Emily's ear. Feeling relieved that Emily isn't leaving but remembering that she promised Caleb something. "Have you heard from Toby by any chance?"

There is a short pause while Emily puts her phone down to think, " No, I haven't talked to him or seen him in awhile. Why?" She turns her head to glance at Paige with curious eyes.

Paige exhales through her nose, "Either has Caleb. When Caleb and I were at his place over the weekend, Toby got a text and started acting super weird then left. Neither of us has heard from him since. We're just a bit worried."

Emily slides her fingers through her hair as her mind starts to race, thinking _this is a classic 'A' sign._ "I…umm…I'll try to see if I can get a hold of him but I'll talk to Spencer to see if she knows anything."

What is 'A' up to now? Does Spencer know? What if 'A' targets Paige next? Emily mindlessly pokes around at the food in her container while her mind works overtime with worst-case scenarios. After a couple of silent minutes, Paige lays a hand on Emily's thigh to get her attention. "Whatever it is, I'm sure Toby is okay. I didn't mean to worry you."

Emily grumbles, "Anything to do with 'A' worries me," she sets the Chinese carton down on the coffee table then grips the back of Paige's hand, that is still on her thigh. "I just wish 'A' would leave you, Toby, Caleb and everyone else we love out of this."

"If whatever is going on with Toby has to do with 'A', I'm sure it is to protect Spencer and the rest of you girls." Paige imagines herself in Toby's shoes, remembering how she felt when she got that first text from 'A'. That ultimately led to that disaster in the lighthouse. At the time, she had no idea what to expect. But, she would do it all again, if it meant protecting Emily.

Emily's mind flashes back to Spencer telling her that Toby was helping Mona not too long ago. That's not true. Not now. It can't be. "I don't want you or Toby putting yourselves in danger just to protect us. Because, I love you, Paige, you are the best part of my life. I need you to be safe." Her grasp on Paige's hand tightens as she leans into brush their lips together.

But, Paige pulls away after only a couple of seconds, "And I love you, Emily. Me, Toby, Caleb and even Ezra have gotten sucked into this because we love you crazy girls. 'A' may be torturous but for you, it's worth it. When you first told me about 'A', I promised you that I would help you through this and I will, I always will," she quickly presses their lips back together in a firm kiss before Emily can form an argument of any kind.

After another minute, Paige leans away slightly to see Emily's eyes looking significantly less strained with stress, "Should we go up stairs? My trig book is up there. We need to start studying for that test."

Emily bits her lip with a flirty smile turning the corners of her lips, "I'm sure that's the only reason you want to get me up there, McCullers."

* * *

 **2 Days Later**

"Okay Emily, we are almost all ready to go over here. Just a few more seconds," Dr. Vargas notifies her over the speaker.

Emily nervously glances around in the small tube that she's confided to. The tightly enclosed space is bleak and dull. The only entertainment that she is left with is her own thoughts. She tries to force 'A' and all the negative stress out of her mind.

"Emily," her name over the intercom pulls her back to reality, " We are going to get started now. Remember to lie perfectly still, so we can get this over with quickly. Sorry in advance for the noise."

The loud clicking sound bounces through her head, making it difficult to form any peaceful thoughts. She closes her eyes to try to shut her surrounds out. The first image that pops into her head is her falling on that rock and ultimately landing her here. She has to suppress the urge to ball her fists in anger and frustration by replacing her thoughts with memories of Paige and focusing on their dream together.

Her stomach flips as she replays the kiss by Paige's pool in her mind. Even in such a short period of time, they have been through so much and that kiss will forever be imprinted into her memories. The way her lips tingled, how her knees went weak and the way her heart beat so fast. No kiss has ever made her feel like that before, The best decision of her life, even with all the tragedy, stress and dysfunction in her life right now, she still feels like the luckiest girl in the world.

About ten minutes later, the obnoxious clicking sound subsides, Emily sighs in relief. "I think we got the images that we needed to get. Let's get you out of there," Dr. Vargas announces before making his way into the MRI room. He presses a button on the side of the large machine, sliding Emily out of the long tube.

"That wasn't too bad was it?" He greets her with a kind smile when she fully emerges from the tube.

"Just loud," Emily smiles back feebly and starts to sit up, using her left arm to push herself all the way up.

"Yes, that seems to be the common complaint," he bows his head slightly, "I'm going to get these images over to our radiologist and I'll give you a call as soon as I know. You can get changed and get out of here, Emily."

Emily nods, "Okay, thank you." Once the doctor is out of the room, Emily gets dressed in record time so she can rush back to school for swim practice. It's only been a couple of days and she can't wait to get back in the water.

Surprisingly, the locker room is completely empty when she gets there. The coach isn't even in her office. The silence and the smell of chlorine is calming, Emily feels herself already distressing within minutes of being there. She twists her combination into her locker and shrugs her jacket off her shoulders then stuffs it into the locker. A quiet thud of the locker room door breaks the relaxing silence Emily wished would last longer.

"Hey, you're here," the only sound better than the silence is hearing that husky voice. Emily spins to see Paige walking towards her. "I didn't think you would make it."

"The MRI didn't take long."

"Good," Paige says in a low tone, stopping only a couple of inches away from her, "Because I need your competition to give me motivation."

"I can think of something else that might give you a little motivation," Emily whispers sensually before she closes the small gap to kiss Paige lightly then takes her bottom lip between hers. Paige immediately responds by placing a hand on her waist and pressing her lips firmer against Emily's and drops her back beside them on the ground. One of Emily's hands grasps the back of Paige's neck as the kiss intensifies and Paige backs Emily against the cold lockers. The hand that was on Emily's waist, sneaks up under the hem of her grey shirt, goosebumps form on Emily's skin under the path of Paige's hand as it slides up the toned abdominal muscles then around to Emily's lower back. Emily groans then nips at Paige's bottom lip and soothes it over with the tip of her tongue.

Paige pulls her mouth away, so she can look into Emily's darkened eyes. Her heart already racing rapidly. "We should probably get changed," Emily mumbles reluctantly with a small frown.

A sly grin spreads across Paige's lips when an idea pops into her head, she glances around them quickly, the locker room is still completely silent. Her hand that is still under Emily's shirt starts pushing the material upward, revealing more caramel skin. "Paige," Emily starts cautiously, "We can't. Someone will probably walk in any second."

"I was just going to help you get changed faster," Paige tries to clarify innocently.

After a second, Emily lurches forward to crash their lips back together. They break apart for a second, so Paige can pull the grey material over Emily's head and toss it into her open locker beside them. To Paige's surprise, her sweater is getting tugged up her body; she leans away with raised eyebrows. "If you're going to help me get changed, I'm going to help you," Emily answers her un-asked question.

Paige lifts her arms up to allow her sweater to be pulled off and dropped onto her bag next to them. Both of Emily's hands cup Paige's face to bring them into an open-mouthed kiss. The pure desire hazes her mind as she feels Paige's hand snake slowly around her waist to pull their bodies flush together. Their bare skin touch ignites a fire in Paige's body; the ball of heat spins rapidly in her stomach and slowly travels south. Emily's hands slide down Paige's neck and over the swell of her chest while Paige's hands glide up her back until they reach the clasp of her bra. Emily allows her fingertips to trace along Paige's subtle abs before they start undoing her belt and pants. The bra becomes loose around Emily's chest when they hear the locker room door swing open causing them to fly apart. Paige grabs her bag and shuffles to her locker a couple of spaces to the left.

"Good to see both of our captains here today," Coach Johnson cranes her head around the row of lockers.

"Yeah, sorry coach, I'm feeling better now," Emily squints her eyes from her feet up to coach Johnson's unwelcoming eyes down the aisle of lockers. "I had an MRI earlier, should get the results back soon."

"I'm hoping for the best, Fields," she gives a small nod before disappearing back behind the lockers.

The two girls begin to remove their remaining clothing items. Just as Emily starts pulling up her swimsuit, she feels Paige's eyes burning into her body. She tugs the swimsuit straps over her shoulders then glances at Paige with a smirk, "You get a good look?"

"I always get a good look," Paige winks then throws her underwear in her locker.

Emily stuffs her long hair inside her swim cap as she tilts her head towards Paige's bare ass, "And I'm getting a good look right now, too."

Paige shakes her head with a short laugh as she stretches her swimsuit up. Her eyes gaze down briefly as she toys with her swim cap in her hands. Soft lips graze over the skin of her neck, causing her to shiver in surprise. A satisfied grin splits across Emily's lips, "Come on, hurry up. Warm up with me."

"Fine! I was putting my swim cap on before your lips distracted me!" Paige tilts her head back to get a better look at Emily, "You still need to be careful of your head though."

Emily rolls her eyes and starts walking backwards towards the pool, keeping her eyes on Paige, "I told you. My head is fine. Plus, I can't give you an edge."

The locker door closes with a ping and Paige turns to her with her eyebrows raised competitively, "Okay, Fields. Let's go!" She chases after Emily to the pool.

* * *

 **That Night**

Just as she starts dozing off, the loud ringing of her phone makes Paige shoot up in bed. "Em?" Paige asks tentatively, immediately worried that Emily is calling her after midnight on a school night. Something is definitely up.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I woke you…. I just couldn't sleep," her voice already wavering.

"Is something wrong?" Paige turns to prop up her pillows so she can lean her back comfortably against them.

There is a sharp inhale on the other end of the phone, "Someone called family services on my parents."

"What? What for?" Out of all the parents in Rosewood, Pam and Wayne are two of the nicest ones that clearly love their daughter. Up until she came out and both of her parents accepted she was gay, she would wish that she had parents like Emily's.

"Apparently, _someone_ or _some people,_ thought my momwas being too rough with me outside of school today after she figured out I stole some of her pills. My mom didn't do anything! And after everything that has happened in the past year, like me being in the hospital with my ulcer last year, they detect some sort of pattern," Emily scoffs at the last part. The whole thing is ridiculous; her parents would never do anything to her.

"Do you think it was the doctor? Or do you think this is that works of 'A'?" Paige bites back her tongue when she feels her mind wanting to tell Emily that she shouldn't have taken so many of those pills. It was dangerous what Emily did.

"I don't know, " Emily stammers, "It could've been Dr. Vargas but then I just got this picture of my mom behind bars from 'A'. It kind of made my mind start spiraling, so I called you because you are logical and will make me feel better, like you always do."

Paige smiles lightly, "As much as this sucks right now and is hard on your parents I'm sure. They have no actual evidence of your parents doing anything to you because they have done nothing. CPS will do their routine and find nothing."

Emily sighs, Paige has an valid point, "You're right. It's just hard. My parents don't deserve this. At least my dad is coming home tomorrow so they aren't alone in this."

"Em, you have amazing parents that both love you so much. It's going to be okay, I promise, " a yawn suddenly escapes her mouth as she finishes up her sentence.

"And I have an amazing girlfriend who wakes up in the middle of the night to deal with my mess of a life, " Emily adds when she hears the loud yawn on the other line.

"To hear your voice, it's always worth it. And your life is not a mess, it's just extremely complicated, " Paige says light heartedly.

 _Really complicated._ Emily smiles at Paige's effort to lighten her somber mood, "I should try to sleep again. And I'll let you get back to sleep."

"Call me if you need anything, my phone is always on for you. I love you," Paige lays her pillows flat down and flops on the top of them.

"I love you, too. Goodnight, Paige. Thank you," Emily ends the call to see a message from Hanna on her screen.

' _Do you think Spencer has talked to Melissa yet?'_

 _Jesus Christ._ Emily rolls her eyes, the memories of Hector's and the masks come flooding back. She doesn't have time for Hanna's persistence on this topic for right now. The phone gets tossed back on her nightstand and she rolls over to shut her eyes, waiting for sleep to consume her.


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you for all the lovely reviews for the last chapter! I am glad you are all still enjoying this, especially during the PLL hiatus! At least next Tuesday we will have that special episode. Been missing this every Tuesday night.**

 **Jhas: glad to see you're back and loving the story! Right now, I'm around 4x06, so it's getting close-ish to Ali coming back. When it does get to that point, I really want to capture Paige's side because we saw so much of Emily's. Still made me so sad! Felt for Paige so much during that period**

 **Chapter 24**

A chilly gust of wind blows through the street causing Paige to shiver slightly and wrap her arms around herself. Goosebumps prickle her bare legs, she silently curses at herself for wearing a skirt tonight. _Out of all days, she had to choose today._ _Ugh._ The neighbors try to be discrete when they peep through their blinds or wander down driveways to get a better look at the police questioning Emily and her family.

 _Leave them alone._

Her body tenses when a police office approaches her, "Are you Emily's girlfriend?"

She nods slowly and nervously, "Yes, I am."

"Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?" He states rather than asking politely. She really does not want to stand her and answer absurd questions about Emily's family.

The police officer flips open his notepad to reference some notes, "Emily says she got into a disagreement with her parents here, at home. Then, she ran to see you at Rosewood High School swimming pool, where you had been swimming?"

"That's right," she answers, straightening up her posture.

The officer stares at her with narrowed eyes, as if she is supposed to elaborate, "Did she mention what happened with her parents? Did she seem upset?"

Paige glances at Emily, who has her arms crossed over her chest as she glares down at her feet. All she wants to do is run over and hug her tightly to wipe the stress and brokenness from her face. "She said that they were having some disagreements about next year for college. Since her recent shoulder injury, they are trying to figure out how to pay without swimming scholarships. So, Emily came to me and was pretty upset that she wouldn't be able to swim in college because it has been her dream to."

A few final notes are jotted down in the officer's notebook before he flips it closed and gives Paige a final nod, "Thank you, I think that is all we need."

As soon as the officer turns to walk away, Pam is slowly heading towards her. Pam briefly glances at the officer walking way then sighs heavily as her shoulders slump down in exhaustion. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this, Paige. I'm just glad Emily was with you when she…ran off like that."

Paige just shakes her head at the apology, "Don't be sorry. This whole thing is ridiculous. You and Wayne don't deserve this."

"Someone obviously thinks we do," Pam mutters bitterly, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as she avoids meeting the prying eyes around the neighborhood, "Was Emily okay when she saw you?"

"She was upset and pretty down, not with you guys but about what the doctor said," her own heart aching at the picture of Emily's broken face by the pool. Back there, Paige tried to be strong and positive because that's what Emily needed. But, inside she was tearing up because she saw their future at Stanford start crumpling and falling apart.

Before answering, Pam peeks over her shoulder at Emily, who is still talking to an officer. Her eyes refocus on Paige, "Did Emily tell you what happened to her shoulder? I just know she isn't being completely honest with us…"

Paige opens her mouth but no words come out. She knows she has to lie for Emily's sake. But, Pam's visibly strained and pleading eyes make it so hard to form the lie she needs to tell. "Sometimes Emily isn't always completely honest with me either," her hands nervously wring together, "She just told me she fell off her bike and hit her shoulder."

It must be obvious that she is lying for Emily because Pam barely nods at her answer then rubs her temples. Behind Pam, Paige sees Emily and Wayne finally walking towards them as the remaining officers gradually retreat to the squad cars. Wayne gives her a small tired smile, "Hey, Paige. It's good to see you, again. That officer didn't give you a hard time did he?"

"No," Paige waves her hand dismissively, "Just a couple of quick questions. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Wayne," Pam pleads quietly, "Can we please go inside. I can't stand all these neighbors watching us anymore."

He smiles at her empathetically, "Yeah, let's go inside, you don't need these people making you feel uncomfortable," he wraps an arm around Pam's shoulder as they turn to head into the house, "You girls can stay out or come inside," he turns his head over his shoulder to say to Emily and Paige.

"We will be out here, but I'll be in soon, "Emily replies quietly to her dad then she moves forward to loop her arms around Paige's neck and leans her head against her shoulder. The police car doors shut and the last remaining squad car drives away, leaving Emily and Paige alone in the yard.

"You okay?" Paige presses her lips against the top of Emily's head and strokes the back of her hair.

"I don't know," Emily answers with a wobbly voice, "I feel so bad for my parents, now all the neighbors know that they are in trouble."

Paige scans around the street, everyone seems to have retreated back inside of closed the blinds. _Rosewood._ She thinks. "They don't know the whole story, this is obviously a huge misunderstanding."

Emily pulls her head up to glimpse into the warm auburn eyes that always make the bad things in her life seem okay. For a moment, she feels safe because the endless brown orbs make her forget about 'A', the mess her parents are in and her screwed up shoulder. Her eyes flicker to Paige's lips, they both tilt their head slightly until their lips attach in the middle. The reality of the day gets pushed back further into Emily's mind. Paige lifts her hands to cradle Emily's face, eliciting Emily to smile under her lips. The fingers on Emily's right hand brush against the bare skin on Paige's left thigh, "I forgot to tell you," Emily mumbles between kisses then briefly pulls away, "I love this skirt."

"Well it's your lucky day because skirts and dresses rarely happen for me," the corners of her lips curl upwards and her hands slide down to the nape of Emily's neck.

Emily lets her eyes drop down the length of Paige's body then back up to her eyes, "Everyday must be my lucky day then because you make everything look so damn hot."

Paige laughs off a small blush then pulls Emily in for a quick kiss. "And will I be lucky enough to have a date with you tomorrow night?"

 _A date._ Just what Emily needs after a horrendous day, for a night, she can get away from 'A' and avoid reality. And maybe forget about her broken dream. "I think you just might be."

"Good," Paige beams at her, "I'll try to think of something creative. But, I'll see you before school tomorrow?"

"I wouldn't expect anything else, " Emily says with a slight shake of her head and the tinniest smile.

"I look forward to tomorrow night, " Paige tilts her head to give Emily a gentle kiss on the cheek," Good night, Em. Call me if you need anything else tonight."

"Night, Paige," Emily whispers, not fingers not letting go of Paige's as she starts to walk backwards. Eventually, their fingers drop and Paige gives her a final smile before stuffing her hands in her jean jacket and walks in the direction of her house.

* * *

 **Next Day**

After school, Paige managed to squeeze in a quick swimming practice before rushing home and getting ready for the night. Paige chuckles when she receives another pleading text from Emily about tonight, ' _Come on! Just one small hint!'_

The surprise isn't big but it'll make Emily smile, she hopes. The idea came to her last night when she was lying in bed trying to think of something creative to do in Rosewood, which is really hard to do. _'You'll find out soon. It's called having patience.'_ She finishes typing and turns to the stove to flip the salmon burgers onto the other side. To pass the time, she stirs the pot of mashed potatoes then prepares the burger buns with garlic aioli and spinach. The small side of kale salad gets thrown into Tupperware, an easy fix.

Her phone on the counter next to the stove bleeps with a message, she quickly picks it up, expecting it to be another begging text from Emily. Instead, it's her mom, ' _Hey sweetie. Your dad and I are going to be stuck in Philly for a while. Won't be home until 2 am or later probably. If anything changes we will let you know.'_ Paige smirks to herself at the wonderful timing of this, but still wishing that they wouldn't be back until tomorrow. That way her and Emily could actually spend a whole night together. Stanford could have been like that everything night. She shakes her head of the thought, she can't think like that.

The pan on the stove starts sizzling and small drops of olive oil spring off the pan. She grabs the spatula and transfers the patties onto the ready-made buns. She places all the food in a picnic basket then puts a kettle on before heading upstairs to change.

Thankfully, her hair is straightened and her make up is already done since she took a shower when she got home; she got all that stuff out of the way. She taps her chin with her middle and index finger as her eyes skim the clothes in her closet. Dark blue skinny jeans with a green and black plaid shirt catch her attention. She slips on her tan zip up jacket over the long sleeve plaid shirt; then checks herself out in her full-length mirror and decides to leave her jacket un-zipped. Right when she reaches the top of the stairs, she remembers that they will probably need a few sources of light and maybe a couple of extra blankets. In the linen closet, she takes two thick blankets, a flash light, a lantern and several candles then heads back downstairs.

"Shit," she mumbles when she notices the clock in the kitchen. She pours the hot tea into a large thermos then tosses it in the basket with everything else before hustling out of the house to her car.

Fifteen minutes later, Paige finishes setting up the late night picnic location in the same spot they had that picnic date, over a year ago now. That turned into such a disaster, she shakes her head to herself. She feels like a completely new person now. Hopefully everything stays intact when she's picking up Emily. It's highly unlikely that anyone would ransack it, unless that person is Mona or 'A'. That's doubtful too, she hopes.

' _I'll be at yours in like 5-10 min,'_ she texts Emily when she gets a stronger signal after walking several yards closer to the edge of the trees.

Before she has a chance to ring the doorbell, the front door opens. "Physic," Paige raises her eyebrows at Emily with an amused grin.

Emily places a kiss in the corner of Paige's mouth as her dad appears behind her at the door. Automatically causing Paige to tense up, "Hey, Paige," he gives her a small wave then leans against the doorframe next to Emily. "Have fun tonight. Take your mind off everything," he gives Emily's good shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Try not to be home too late, I don't' want your mom worrying about anything else."

"Don't worry, I'll get her home safely," Paige assures him with a charming smile.

"I have heard that you are very good about getting our Emmy home safe," he gives Emily a kiss on the cheek, "See you girls later," then disappears into the living room.

"Ready?" Paige asks, holding her hand out for Emily to take.

"Ready," Emily responds, interlinking their hands together and following Paige down to her car

Paige drives them a few minutes to the closest location on the street and grabs the flashlight on the floor. "Where are we going?" Emily laughs puzzled, when she gets out of the car.

"In there," Paige points the flashlight at the trees as she rounds the car and stops next to Emily.

"It must be creative then," Emily says approvingly, reaching out for Paige's hand then gripping her forearm with her other.

They walk through the rows of trees together, Emily has no idea what to expect but she can feel her heart beating impatiently in her chest. After a few minutes, small lights on the ground flicker in the near by clearing. Paige glances at Emily when she notices her break out into a wide smile next to her.

"Oh my god, Paige! This is so sweet," Emily gushes when they are only a few feet away, tightening her grip on her arm then squeezes her hand.

Paige dips her head slightly then stops them in front of the laid out blanket, "I thought it would be nice to have memories of a better picnic and maybe just look at the stars. They are so much brighter when you are in here."

The hands on Paige's arm release and raise to cup her cheeks instead, "I still have many good memories from that picnic, even if it didn't end that…well," Emily leans into capture Paige's lips in a gentle kiss. "But, I'm sure we will make even better memories with this picnic," Emily whispers as she stares into Paige's brown orbs then starts pulling her with her onto the blanket.

Paige sits down next to Emily on the laid out blanket then reaches into the basket to show Emily what she made them for dinner. "So, I made us some salmon burgers, some mashed potatoes and a kale salad. I also threw in a thermos of hot tea, just the way you like it and some cookies, just in case." Emily continues to gaze at her with a sweet smile and tucks some hair behind her ear as she watches Paige fix plates of food for them.

"How did I get so lucky?" Emily shakes her head in disbelief; today she still has no idea what she has done in life to deserve someone like Paige. The girl makes her heart swell with complete happiness at everything she does for her.

"You're always saying that," Paige sighs contently, "But, haven't I told you? I'm the lucky one." She hands Emily the plate she just finished preparing for her.

The first bite of salmon burger confirms it; she's the lucky one. "Paige, do not argue with me on this anymore because this salmon burger is amazing." She mumbles with her mouth full.

Paige chuckles, "Oh, I know it is." Then flashes a cocky grin at Emily, earning a smack on the arm from her. The aioli on Paige's burger is oozing out and when she goes to take the next bite, some drips down the side of her mouth and down her chin.

"Paige," Emily laughs, "You're making a mess, you got some aioli on the corner of your mouth and dripping down your chin."

Paige wipes at the wrong side her mouth, feeling nothing. "Other side," Emily clarifies with a teasing smile. Paige brushes at the other side of her mouth, instead of wiping the aioli off, she accidentally smears it more. Completely oblivious, she smiles at Emily in triumph.

"Okay, yeah you just made it worse," Emily laughs again and stops Paige's hand when she goes to fix it again. "Let me," she pushes Paige's hand down to her side then leans over to kiss the corner of her mouth, sucking the sauce off there then pulls away with an amused grin to wipe Paige's chin with her thumb. "There, " Emily says, picking her plate back up.

After they finish eating, they lie on their backs next to each other with their hand clasped together as they stare at the twinkling stars above them. For a second, Emily's mind wanders to their first picnic together and how they laid just like this. Emily sits up to reach for the thermos of hot tea, feeling a little warmer as the hot liquid stings her throat. She grabs a cookie before lying back down next to Paige, this time she shuffles into Paige's side. Emily holds up some of the cookie to Paige's mouth, Paige smiles and takes a bite of the cookie. A small shiver shoots up Emily's body, causing her to scoot closer into Paige's body, "Are you cold, Em?"

"A little bit," Emily shrugs then pouts when Paige sits up, the brief absence of her body heat makes Emily feel even colder. Paige throws a blanket over their bodies then pulls Emily back into her body when she lies back down. This time, Emily shivers with delight and snuggles her head against Paige's. Paige strokes her fingers along Emily's upper arm, feeling in complete bliss in the moment.

"I wish I knew the stars and constellations better," Emily mumbles into her ear.

"I'm not an expert either," Paige whispers then reaches for her phone next to her, "But I do have this." They wait a moment as the star guide app pulls up on her phone and displays the stars and constellations around them.

"Oh my god, that's so cool," Emily stares at the screen in astonishment as Paige moves the phone in different directions to see all the various lights in the sky. "You can literally see all the shapes of the constellations because sometimes it can be so difficult to make them out yourself you know?" Paige just turns her head to smile adoringly at Emily then Emily holds the other end of her phone to pull it slightly back, "Wait, there's Uranus!'

Paige holds her phone down and glances in the direction that it was spotted; the dimmest of lights can be seen in the dark sky, "Wow, I would have never known that."

"This is so nice," Emily, murmurs then traces along the small opening of Paige's shirt on her chest, "I feel away from Rosewood, even though we really aren't away."

"I know," Paige exhales, "I thought it would be nice to get away for a bit without Rosewood breathing down our necks when we try to enjoy time together."

Emily runs her hand up the side of her neck, tilting Paige's face towards her so she can connect their lips together. Paige returns the kiss eagerly and tightens her left arm around Emily. An inaudible moan hums in the back of Paige's throat when Emily sucks on her bottom lip and slips her tongue into Paige's mouth while leaning up against her to get a better angel. Paige's other hand comes up to pull Emily even closer, her body craving Emily's. Emily groans, moving her hand to the nape of Paige's neck, their heads tilting simultaneously to allow their tongues to work quicker together. The cool air blowing against Emily's now exposed skin doesn't even bother her as Paige's right hand wanders under the hem of her sweater, creating a heat wave as it travels up her side and over her back. Emily's hand makes a path from the nape of Paige's neck down the center of her shirt and over to her right breast, squeezing gently through Paige's shirt. Even through her thick plaid shirt, Paige can feel her body start tingling and heating up like lightening bolt under that hand. Paige pulls away from Emily, gasping for air and at her desire.

Emily looks at her with confused eyes when Paige doesn't go back in for a kiss right away, "Do you want to come back to mine?" Paige stutters out, taking all of her effort to complete sentences, "My folks are gone until at least two so…."

A sexy smirk slides across Emily's lips, "You don't even have to ask," Emily leans forward to barely ghost her lips over Paige's then pulling her up with her. "Come on, McCullers move faster," Emily demands half-heartedly as they quickly gather up the small picnic.

"Eager," Paige glances up at her as they fold the blanket they have been sitting on, "I like it." She flashes Emily a mischievous grin before Emily impatiently tugs on her hand, jogging together to Paige's car.


	25. Chapter 25

**I am so sorry for this really late upload! My laptop broke and had to get a new one and in the process I lost the chapter I was working on. Then thanksgiving was thrown in there. But, I came out with this extremely long one. I'm sure you guys won't mind that haha. I also don't think I've published since the special episode! Had some positivity for paily at the end there. Keeping my fingers crossed!**

 **Thank you for the several reviews on last chapter! Got a few new ones in there I haven't seen before. It always makes me smile when I see that in my e-mail :) They are always so appreciated and make me want to write more for my wonderful readers. Enjoy the long chapter, readers!**

 **Chapter 25**

The car ride home seems like an eternity, Emily's body buzzes impatiently to get to Paige's house. The front door closes behind them and they can't help but leave lingering kisses while stumbling around, pulling their shoes off. Emily grabs the collars of Paige's shirt to crush their lips together then yanks her by the hand up the stairs to the bedroom. When they get in her bed room, Paige flips the light on then grabs Emily by the waist and spins her around into a hard kiss. The girls both push each other's jackets off their shoulders, Emily throws her arms around Paige's neck to pull her flush against her. Paige guides Emily backwards to her bed until her knees hit the edge and Paige lands on top of her. They shuffle until they are in the middle of the mattress and Emily moves her hands to Paige's face to bring them into an open mouth kiss.

Paige's tongue immediately darts into her girlfriend's mouth to start the familiar dance together. After a couple of minutes, Emily slides her hands down Paige's chest until they reach the top button of her plaid shirt and begins working to unbutton her shirt as their tongues fight for dominance. As soon as the last button slips through the slit, Paige sits up briefly to toss the shirt aside and to give them a moment to catch some much needed air. But, Emily pulls her back down into a kiss as soon as her lungs fill up with air and her hands instantly seek out the newly exposed skin. Her hands glide up Paige's sides, over her ribs then around to her back, trying to feel every inch of her flawless skin.

The unbelievable sensation of Emily's hands roaming lustfully over her body causes the desire to starts churning in Paige's stomach. Every nerve seems to be on fire with want. Her hands reach under the hem of Emily's sweater, she sighs, feeling the smooth skin underneath her finger tips as she pushes the sweater up her body. Emily sits up to help Paige pull the sweater over her head, but to Paige's surprise, Emily takes the opportunity to flip them over.

There is a small smirk on Emily's face before their bodies slide together and Emily leans down to nip at Paige's bottom lip before sucking it between her lips. One of Paige's hands tangles in Emily's hair, the other slides down her back and over her ass. Emily groans against Paige's lips and pushes her thigh in between Paige's legs. A pleasurable jolt shoots up Paige's body and she wiggles her hand into Emily's back pocket to tug her hips closer. Emily squeezes Paige's left breast through her bra, getting rewarded with a soft moan vibrating against her lips. Paige removes her hands from her ass and hair to unclasp Emily's bra, throwing it onto the nightstand next to her bed. Her hands immediately fly to Emily's breasts, palming them then running her thumbs over the hardened nipples. Emily pulls away from her lips with her eyes squeezed shut as she gasps loudly then stretches under Paige's back to try to undo her bra. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, Paige lifts her back up slightly to allow Emily to easily undo the clasp there. Emily tosses her behind her shoulder then continues massaging the newly exposed breasts. Her thumbs start circling Paige's nipples once their mouths reconnect in a frantic kiss. When Paige pinches her girlfriend's nipples, Emily grinds her thigh harder in between Paige's legs.

"Fuck," Paige whimpers, her center aching for more of Emily.

There is something Emily has wanted to try for a while now, she slips her hand between their bodies to undo Paige's jeans then sits back on her knees to pull them down her legs with her underwear. Paige's chest is heaving with anticipation when her pants get dropped off the side of the bed, needing Emily between her legs right now. Her eyebrows knit in surprise when she sees Emily stand up to remove her pants and underwear then kick them aside to climb back on top of her. The sight of a naked Emily still causes Paige's mouth to go dry and she eagerly lets her hands wander up her bare sides as Emily lowers herself back down.

They both moan in unison when their fully naked bodies press into each other. Emily lips connect with Paige's jaw, kissing a path to her ear, biting it gently before whispering, "spread your legs for me."

Paige inhales sharply, the hot breath and mouth in her ear whispering those words are almost enough to make her come undone right then and there. When she happily obliges and sees Emily start to maneuver her hips to get a new positioning. Paige catches onto Emily's thoughts, her heart hammering like mad. She spreads bends her knees slightly to angel her hips up to allow Emily to lower her hips and push their centers together.

"Holy fuck," Emily cries out at the contact, Paige's mouth hangs open, silently gasping and her hands shoot to Emily's hips to hold them tight and steady. Emily drops forward, locking her arms on either side of Paige's head to rock her hips faster and create more friction. Shocks of pleasure shoot through their veins as they grind harder together.

Paige digs her blunt nails into Emily's hip then loosens her hip to cup Emily's ass to pull her hips as close as she can them. "Emily..." Paige moans deeply then opens her eyes to see Emily hovering above her with her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth slightly open as long strings of guttering moans escape it. For a brief second, Emily's smoldering dark eyes open to meet hers then Emily dips her head to slip her tongue into Paige's mouth that has stayed wide open from loud gasps and echoing moans. Their tongues work sloppily together when the pleasure starts making their muscles shake and Emily thrusts her hips a couple of more times to send them over the edge. Emily's arms give way under the tremors and she falls on top of Paige, feeling both of their chests heaving together.

Paige runs her finger tips up Emily's spine, trying to steady her breathing. After a minute passes, Emily regains some control over her muscles and rolls off of Paige. Paige lolls her head to look at Emily with a lazy grin, "holy shit that was..."

"Amazing?" Emily finishes Paige's sentence with a giggle.

"Extremely," Paige nods, "I gotta say you really took me by surprise."

Emily props herself up on her elbow, her hair falling off her shoulder onto one side, "you surprised me tonight with an extremely sweet and creative date. I gotta keep the surprises coming too."

The way Emily's hair flows down her bare shoulders with that small smile curling at the corner of her lips leaves Paige speechless. Paige reaches up to run her fingers through Emily's soft wavy hair, "you're really beautiful, did you know that?"

The words still make Emily's stomach and heart flutter, she leans down to move her lips slowly against Paige's slightly swollen lips. Her hand slides up between the valley of Paige's breasts, up her neck then strokes her thumb along her jaw, "I love you,"

"I love you, too," Paige whispers, her eyes gazing deep into the mesmerizing eyes. "I hate that we can't spend the whole night and morning together."

"I know," Emily mumbles sadly, lying her head next to Paige's on the pillow, "hopefully our parents will be out of town soon, so we can. I'm sure my mom will be going to Texas sometime after all this blows over with them."

"And I think my parents will be going up to Scranton sometime soon again, they haven't for a while. Surprisingly," Paige rolls on her side to drape an arm over Emily's side. "I should probably get you home shouldn't I?"

"Probably," Emily frowns, "my dad will probably be up waiting and my mom is still paranoid about what the town thinks of her."

"So. if your dad is going to be up, it'll probably be wise to get dressed back in the clothing I already wore because I'm guessing it won't look good if I show up in sweats," Paige smirks slightly but her face turns a slight shade of red at the thought.

Emily chuckles, "He may not notice what you wore before but if you show up in sweats and I'm late for curfew, I think he might catch on. And that could lead to a sex talk I really don't want to have with him because it'll be even more awkward since he has no actual experience in this area..."

Paige laughs loudly, trying to imagine how that conversation would go. It would be even worse with her parents. She really hopes she never has to go through that. "Okay okay fine, I'll get dressed all nice, so we can avoid these sex talks with parents, especially your dad."

 **8 Days Later**

Instead of getting up and going for a run, Paige has chosen to lie in bed and just think. She knows she has no right to be, but she's angry, scared and a little heart broken that Emily went on the college tour with Spencer this weekend. _Is she really giving up on Stanford that easily?_ Her eyes close, she knows that's not fair to think that but the thought of them being apart next year terrifies her. _What will it mean for them? Will Emily still want to be with her?_ It's selfish. But, it's Emily's dream too, to swim, to be with her at Stanford away from this. At least everything has been cleared up with her parents' accusations. However, 'A' is still at large and Emily still isn't safe here in Rosewood. She has to get Emily away from here, help Emily know she can still achieve her dream.

Her phone shows no new messages, she sighs heavily. The last thing she heard from Emily that she was getting ready for some sorority party with Spencer. She probably drank a lot at her first college party and is sleeping in, but she can't help worrying. She picks up her laptop from her desk and flops back down in bed, then begins searching for high-level swim coaches in the area. An Olympic swim trainer keeps popping up on google. Everything says he is the absolute best. If Emily heals, maybe he can get her back in shape for Stanford. She dials the number listed for him.

"Hello this is Dominic Castello," he answers on one of the last rings.

"Hi, Mr. Castello, my name is Paige McCullers. I have a…friend on my swim team, who is extremely talented. She is a senior in high school this year and has been contacted by Stanford and many other swim programs. But, I think you could take her to the next level even. How does a swimmer get to train with you?"

"Stanford," he states, clearly impressed, "That is one of the best programs in the country. She definitely sounds like a good candidate for my program. The best things you can do is send me a video of her swim meets and we can take it from there."

Paige purposely leaves out the fact that Emily is injured; he will definitely want to take her once he sees the videos. "Do I send the videos to the address listed on your website."

"Yes, you can. Along with the video add her name and the name of your school. From there, I will get back to you on it."

"Perfect!" She says enthusiastically, "I will get some videos together and send them over to you in the next couple days."

"I look forward to it Paige," he says before the phone clicks off.

After getting off the phone, Paige sits back on her bed, feeling a little more hopeful about their future. Over the last couple of years, her dad has filmed most of their meets, which includes numerous videos of Emily killing it. _How is she going to compile all them together into a decent video in a couple of days?_

The persistent growling in her stomach finally forces her to put her task on hold. It's Sunday, which means her parents will be out of the house for Church for a while longer and she doesn't particularly feel like making breakfast at the moment. She gets dressed in black joggers and a grey zip-up hoodie.

At The Brew, she sits at a table by the window, eating a breakfast sandwich and sipping the tea in front of her. She spots Caleb out of the corner of her eye; he quickly searches the room until his eyes land on her, immediately walks to her table. "Have you heard from Hanna or any of the girls?"

"The last I heard from Emily was last night before she went to some sorority party," she tries not to scoff at the word," with Spencer on their college tour, why?"

He slouches down into the chair across from her, "Something feels wrong. Hanna hasn't been answering any of my texts."

"I'm sure we will hear from them at some point today, maybe they will tell us, maybe they won't. I hope they do though," Paige mumbles at the end.

"Yeah," Caleb responds, almost inaudibly, "Other than that, what's been up with you?"

"Not too much, this morning I called this well-known swim trainer, who has trained numerous Olympic athletes. He says he wants a video of Emily. I'm hoping he can help her get in shape for Stanford next year and help her move on from this shoulder injury. I have all these videos of swim meets, I just suck at this sort of thing."

Caleb nods thoughtfully, "I can help you out, if you want. As you know I'm pretty good at those sort of things. Just send the videos my way and I'll do the rest because I want Emily at Stanford with you next year. That girl needs some happiness."

Paige exhales, feeling so much less stressed, "You are the best you know that?"

"I've been told," he smirks, "Plus, it'll help take my mind of this for now." He jumps in his seat when his phone rings loudly in his hand, "Hanna! I have been trying to call you forever now. Where the hell have you been?"

His jaw drops open, "What the fuck you mean you got arrested? How come you didn't call me sooner?!"

Paige's eyes widen at his loud outburst, _what does this mean for Emily?_ H "Hanna! What the hell happened?! Talk to me!"

Luckily, the panic swelling inside of Paige's chest only lasts a split second when she hears a small voice next to her, "So I take it, you've heard?" Then the raven haired girl bends down to kiss her cheek softly.

"Emily," she closes her eyes and breathes out, relieved, "I was beginning to worry, are you okay?"

"I'm," Emily thinks, trying to describe her mess of emotions from last night. Left over guilt from "leading" Brendan on last night. Apparently being nice equals flirting now. The ridiculous misunderstanding still makes her feel guilty for doing that to Paige. She _hates_ that Spencer was "right", her snarky comments still make her want to ball her fists. Spencer doesn't get it; she never has to charm her way into anything because her parents can fix anything with their money. If she had that privilege, she wouldn't be falling apart inside because she can't go to Stanford. It would already be fixed by now and she could be living that dream out with Paige. Then her stomach knots when she thinks of Hanna's situation and what it could mean for her and her mom.

Paige keeps her eyes on her, patiently waiting for Emily to find the proper words. "I don't know...I feel worried, angry, guilty, just everything" she finally mumbles. Paige laces their fingers together then brings Emily's hand up to her mouth to kiss her knuckles tenderly.

"Don't hang up! Hanna?," Caleb shouts then slams his phone on the table.

"What happened?" Paige probes firmly, her eyes move between Caleb and Emily.

Emily stares down at her feet then back to Caleb, unsure if he wants her to tell Paige. "Hanna," Caleb exhales loudly, "got arrested for trying to bury a gun."

"A gun?," Paige forces her voice to a whisper, not wanting to draw attention to them. Caleb barely nods, his eyes burning into the table in front of them.

"I don't know the full story, Hanna didn't get a chance to finish," he mumbles, biting his lip in thought. "I gotta go, I need to go see Hanna," he stands up abruptly only to be stopped by Emily.

"Hanna is on lock down today. You won't be able to see her," she puts her hands on his forearm then tries to push him back down in his chair.

After a couple of moments, he gives up and drops back in his chair. "Before you tell me exactly what happened last night, you should probably catch Paige up with that's going on because it's pretty clear that she's out of the loop on this."

All Emily can see is the hurt in Paige's unsurprised eyes, every time she sees that look she hates herself a little more for being the cause of it over and over again. Emily drags over a chair from another table to sit down next to Paige and catch her up on the Marin's history with Wilden and Hanna's recent paranoia over his murder. Before Emily begins telling them all of the details from the night before, Paige can already see where this is heading.

Caleb anxiously chews on the side of his thumb as all of the details are slowly leaked. "I knew something would happen," he angrily grits his teeth, "she never thinks when she's scared."

"If I had known I would've stopped her, you know that," Emily reminds him, "sometimes it just hard to think straight when you are trying to protect someone that you love. I know I've done my fair share for Paige," she glances at Paige with apologetic eyes, "the girls, my family."

"She just doesn't realize that now she has given the police more ammo against her and her mom," he groans and runs his fingers through his hair.

"So," Paige finally chimes in, "are we think A or Mona or someone did this?"

"It has A or Mona or whatever written all over it," he answers aggravated before Emily even has a chance to, "they knew Hanna's weakness."

"Before we jump to any conclusions, let's wait until we hear back about the gun," Emily tries to calm Caleb.

He sighs then rubs his eyes with his fists, "I think I just need to get my mind off it."

"We could start working on that...project that you promised to help me with," her words are chosen carefully, wanting to keep it a surprise for Emily. She ignores the wary stare Emily is shooting at her.

"That should help," he nods with a small smile, "I just need to get my laptop, I'll meet you back at your place?"

As Caleb leaves The Brew, Paige notices Emily's suspicious eyes are still burning into her skin. "This better not have anything to with A or Mona or Hanna." She states almost accusingly.

"It doesn't, I promise," Paige squeezes Emily's knee, "he is just helping me with something that I need to get done, that involves a computer."

The serious expression on Emily's face finally falls into a smile that make her once-suspicious eyes, glow lovingly. "So besides Hanna get arrested, how was the college visit? You get crazy at that sorority part?" Paige smiles amusingly at Emily with her eye brows raised.

Emily laughs, "No I did not. Only had a few drinks before the Hanna disaster. But the college definitely isn't for me,"

Paige feels guilty when her heart skips happily that the college isn't _for her_ , "I can't say I'm sad," she confesses with a shy smile, "just don't discount Stanford just yet, okay?"

"I just don't want to get my hopes up just to have them crushed to pieces again," Emily whispers, her voice catching slightly still at the confession.

Paige leans into kiss Emily slowly until she feels a small smile against her lips. "I love you," Emily caresses her cheek when she pulls back, letting her eyes melt into Paige's.

"I love you too," Paige can't help but grin every time she hears those words.

"I really need to get to work," Emily reluctantly glances at the time on her phone.

"What time do you start?"

"Fifteen minutes ago," Emily nods with a half-laugh.

Paige chuckles, "good thing you are right here then, get to work Fields."

"I'll call you later okay?" Emily says when she stands up and ties her apron around her waist.

"I look forward to it," Paige flirts in a low voice.

Next day

After pulling up her swim suit, Paige reaches in the back of her locker to grab her goggles. She hears the locker room door shut, _who else is here this early for practice?_

"Hello, Paige," the familiar voice makes her jump out of her skin.

"What are you doing here?" She snaps and scowls at Shana standing next to her locker.

"Oh, your little girlfriend didn't tell you? I go to school here now and I'll be taking her place on the team," she replies smugly

"What?" Paige's jaw drops open, "Are you kidding me? Why?"

"Better swim team and plus I needed a change," Shana starts pulling her jacket off her arms.

"It's the middle of senior year, this is pointless," Paige rolls her eyes at her, feeling the blood angrily thump in her ears.

"Oh come on, swimming on the same team will be fun! We will probably make an even better team than you and Emily," Shana tries to laugh light-heartedly.

"We will never make a good team, Shana," Paige hisses at her and slams her locker for emphasis, "You could never replace Emily on this team or as my anchor. I'm sure the rest of the team will agree with that too. She was the best we had." She shoulder checks Shana as she passes her to head to the pool.

Anna walks into her on the way to the pool with concerned eyes, "hey, I walked in and you sounded pretty pissed at someone. Is everything okay?"

Paige exhales then glares at her feet, " I wasn't told we were getting a new team mate." Once she notices Anna's eyes staring at her with confusion, Paige decides to try to elaborate calmly, "I dated her a couple weeks over the summer when Emily was in Haiti. And she has been absolute shit about Emily, telling me she will replace her on the team and at Stanford next year."

"Who the hell is the girl?" Anna scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest and tries to peek around the lockers to get a look at Shana.

"Her name is Shana, she swam at that private school we sometimes compete against," Paige puts her hands on her hips, trying to maintain composure and breathe evenly through her nose.

"Well let's give her hell," Anna smirks, bumping Paige's shoulder with her fist. Paige laughs, feeling a little better now that she knows Anna has her back at least, "Thanks, Anna, I know Em would appreciate it too."

That night

"Oh hello, Emily," manages to greet her in an even tone with a subtle polite smile.

"Hi, , is Paige home?"

He clears his throat, "she's up in her room, you can go up, if you would like."

Emily nods her head, "thank you." He steps aside to let Emily inside then shuts the door behind her.

When Emily reaches Paige's room, she can feel her smile not totally meet her eyes. Today has been nagging at her, she knows most of the reason is completely irrational but she can't help it.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Paige asks excitedly with a surprised grin stretching across her face. She quickly closes her laptop before Emily can take a seat on her bed and see a swimming video of her on the screen.

"I was just at Hanna's and I thought I would drop by because I have to ask you something," Emily sits on the side of Paige's bed, observing the momentary panic flash in Paige's eyes.

The somber way Emily said those words caused her heart to stop beating and her body involuntarily tense up with fear. "What is it?"

"Did you know that Shana was coming to our school and swim on the team?" Emily asks timidly, her eyes focusing on her hand pressing into the comforter, insecurely avoiding Paige's eyes.

Paige releases a sigh of relief then closes her eyes, "No, Em. I was just as surprised to see her in the locker room. Coach didn't tell me and she didn't tell me."

"Do you still talk to her?"

"No, not really," she scrunches up her face and shakes her head," she texts me every now and then but I don't reply."

Apart of Emily is jealous that Shana is still trying to talk to Paige. _What does she want?_ Then the other part of her is purely angry because Shana and Jenna clearly have a connection that is supported by the video she just slipped on Tanner's desk. The one linking them to Wilden. But, right now, she can't ignore the nagging in the back of her head. "What does she say to you?"

The snarky comments about Emily and Stanford are at the front of her mind, but bringing that up to her is probably a horrible idea. It will only lead to Emily being insecure and hurt over Stanford and the fact that her ex-girlfriend is trying to gun for a spot on her team. "Nothing you have to worry about, Em."

The words make Emily do just that-worry. "Is she trying to get back with you or something?"

"God,Em! No!" She bellows, "she knows that I'm crazy in love with you, she knew it before I dated her even." Paige reaches over and covers Emily's hand that is gripping into her comforter.

Emily smiles at their connected hands and finally lets the tense muscles in her shoulders drop, "I'm sorry it's just she made some comments about Stanford to me and her relationship with Jenna just gives me more of a reason to be suspicious of her."

"Shana isn't worth a second thought. I don't know if I would really be suspicious of her though, she's never mentioned Jenna to me before," she tries to add delicately.

More than anything, Emily wants to tell Paige about the video from Wilden's car and how Jenna and Shana carried him off. But, she can't, it would blow Hanna's chances right now. It was fairly irrational of her to come barging into her girlfriend's room with jealousy coursing through her veins. Paige loves her, she knows that. Her eyes flutter to Paige's intoxicating pink lips, Paige reads Emily's mind because their lips meet in the middle. Paige raises her hand up to the side of Emily's face as their kiss grows firmer and she feels Emily swipe her tongue at her bottom lip. Paige hates herself when she pulls away from the kiss, "I'm sorry, it's just hard to stop around you and my parents are right there and I don't want them to kick you out because I can't control my hormones."

Emily giggles at Paige's adorable ramble, "you can't control your hormones around me?"

"Oh shut up! Don't act like you don't know!"

"I do know because you make it very difficult to control myself also," Emily states in that low suggestive voice that causes Paige to shiver in excitement and making it that much more difficult to control her hands.

Next night

Emily ducks her head as she speed walks out of the police station, unsure if her hands are still shaking from anger or anxiety. By now she should know that she walked straight into one of A's traps. She can never catch a break. She slows down her steps when she sees Spencer and Aria standing at the foot of the steps at the police station.

Any anxiety she had left over from the police questioning is replaced by the anger she has been feeling towards Spencer since yesterday. "Em!" Aria exhales when she walks half way down the steps, "what happened? What was that all about?"

Emily avoids Spencer's sorry eyes and talks straight to Aria, "the footage is gone and was replaced by someone trying to pose as me in a red coat with one of those creepy masks from Hector's holding up a sign that says guilty." She scoffs in incredulity and shakes her head.

"Are you kidding me?" Aria groans, crossing her arms. "That is like the one solid thing that could help Hanna and her mom."

"After seeing Shana in that creepy town with Jenna's car, she is clearly up to something," Spencer tries to jump into the conversation.

Emily rolls her eyes, "That footage was one of the last things we had that wasn't in the RV, guess we really have nothing now." She spits harshly at Spencer, who recoils at the sting of her tone.

"Em, I said-" Spencer attempts another apology in a weak voice.

"I have to go now," Emily cuts her off sharply, "I need to fill Hanna in on what happened." She mutters at the end before pointedly bumping into Spencer as she walks pass her

"Aria," Emily calls out as she crosses the street to her car and waits for Aria to spin around to face her, "you can meet me over there, if you want. I'm just not so sure if Spencer is wanted there." She can see Spencer's shoulders and face drop at her words, but she gets into her car and shuts the door without a response.

There are several police cars outside the big white house when Emily pulls up. It's nearly 11 PM, _this can't be good_ , she thinks to herself. Aria's car pulls up behind her as soon as she shuts her front door. "What's going on?" Aria asks, her eyes shifting between the flashing lights and the front door of the Marin household.

"I don't know," Emily half-stutters as they make their way through the white picket gate. The girls stop in their tracks when the front door opens and Ashely being escorted out in hand cuffs with cops on either side of her. Tanner is in tow with a subtle triumphant leer.

"Mrs. Marin!" Emily cries with sympathy, only to be looked up at with ashamed eyes glossed over with unshed tears. Ashley goes to say something but is quickly jerked away and pushed into the back of a police car.

"Mom!" A sob breaks from the door way as Hanna's dad stand behind her. Emily rushes up to the door, with Aria on her heels, to throw her arms around Hanna. She can feel Hanna's body shaking against as Hanna reaches up to clutch her back tightly and bury her face into her shoulder. There is a gentle bump against Emily's right arm that she releases from around Hanna to drag Aria into the hug with them.

"It's going to be okay, Hanna. We will figure this out, I promise," Emily whispers into her hair.

"They can't do this!" Hanna shakes with her tears, "they can't take her away from me!" She pulls her head away from Emily's shoulder, leaving it damp from her tears. Aria rubs her back to try to soothe her shaking sobs. "She didn't do it, she didn't do it," Hanna cries weakly, wiping away stray tears with the pads of her fingers.

"We know, Han. But, until then she is in really good hands with Spencer's mom," Aria reminds her gently and Emily nods in agreement.

"Dad?" Hanna asks with a raspy voice, "Can they stay for a bit?"

Her dad pauses with a serious expression, looking like he is going to say no but he sighs, "I guess that fine. Just not too late okay? You need to get some rest."

"Thank you Mr. Marin," Emily smiles, closing the front door behind her then follows the girls up to Hanna's room.

Before going into Hanna's room, she wets a wash cloth in the bathroom and grabs a make-up remover wipe. Hanna is sitting on her bed, with her legs over the side and her head resting on Aria's shoulder when Emily enters the room. Emily drops onto her knees in front of Hanna to start cleaning up her red puffy eyes and wiping away the smeared mascara and eyeliner from around her eyes.

"Thanks, Em," Hanna mumbles weakly.

There is a small moment of silence before Hanna asks meekly, "what are we going to do? What happened to the footage that I gave you, Em? Did Tanner see it? That could-,"

Emily' heart clenches painfully at the hopefulness in her voice and has to cut her off before she can continue, "there is no more footage," she lets her eyes down at the floor, unable to look at Hanna's broken face anymore. "A must've gotten it because when I was at work for the open mic, Tanner told me I had to go the station for some questioning. When I got there, she played the footage but it wasn't of Shana and Jenna anymore. It was of someone in a red coat with one of those creepy hector masks, that was clearly supposed to be me, holding up a sign that says guilty."

"This bitch is trying to frame you and my mom?" Hanna shouts and runs her hands anxiously through her hair. "That's it," she throws her hands up in the air, "I'm going to let Caleb get involved to help solve this thing. Paige and Toby can help him if they would like, since we know they like to play murder mystery behind our backs anyways."

"I don't know if I want Paige involved, Hanna," she shrugs feebly, "especially since Shana is involved, possibly."

"On yeah, you missed it," Aria waves her hand then turns to Hanna with a serious face, "Shana goes to our school now and she was just at the open mic at The Brew before Tanner dragged Em down to the station."

"What?" Hanna scrunches her nose, her stunned voice is still horse, "Why does that bitch even go to our school now? Going to make sure that she's on Caleb's list to watch."

"Em, what did Paige say to Shana coming to Rosewood? Did she have any idea?" Aria asks as Hanna grabs her phone off her nightstand.

"Fucking Shana won't even check me out or flirt with me'" Hanna mumbles under her breath.

Emily quickly glances at her but ignores her then turns her attention back to Aria, "she told me she was just as surprised as I was, but Shana has texted her a couple times but she's always ignored her. Coach didn't even tell her that anyone new was coming on the team."

Her face must've revealed her concern and uneasiness because Aria smiles gently at her, "Hey, Paige loves you, alright? I wouldn't be worried about Shana at all."

"It's not that," Emily exhales and tugs at her shoe laces, "Well I'm not thrilled about that aspect but it's more worried about Paige's safety because we don't know how Shana is involved in all this. I don't want Paige to be a target because they dated and now her and I are together."

"I'm sure our hardy bros or detective Spencer will get to the bottom of this, Spencer is already on her tail since she saw her in creep-vill," Aria over pronounces the last word for emphasis. Hanna squints her eyes at Aria in confusion to what she was referring to, "we will have Spencer explain to you later." Hanna nods and moves her eyes back to her phone.

"I should probably get going, been a long day at work and getting questioned by Tanner," Emily states bitterly, pushing herself off the ground and straightening her shirt.

"Are you good, Han, or do you need me to stay a little longer?" Aria turns her head to look at Hanna.

Hanna takes a deep breath to quickly think, "I think, I'll be okay. I should probably get to sleep anyways or at least try to. My brain might be going a million miles an hour."

"Well if you need anything, call. I'll have my phone on loud tonight," Emily bends down to wrap Hanna in a tight hug

"Thanks, Em," Hanna mumbles against her shoulder, "I'll let you know." Aria pulls Hanna into a quick huge before walking downstairs with Emily where they hear Hanna's dad on the phone in the kitchen. Considering it's all legal talk, it can only be assumed that it's Veronica Hastings on the other line. The girls share pained looks before heading out the door into their cars. There is a missed call from Paige on her screen when she finally checks it. It's almost midnight, _crap_ , Paige is probably asleep. Aria waves goodbye as she pulls away from the Marin household.

Emily calls Paige back, expecting it to go to voicemail at this time, so she smiles in surprise when she hears Paige's slightly sleepy voice on the other end, "Hey, Em. I was getting a bit worried."

"Did I wake you?" She forces herself to ask but is happy to hear her comforting voice.

"Not really," Paige chuckles, "I was just falling sleep, kind of hoping I would hear from you."

"I'm sorry, it was just hell at the open mic night tonight," Emily pauses before she adds in the police incident. Knowing she would have to tell Paige about the footage and their suspicions about Shana and Jenna. However, tonight's incident proved that she should wait until everything blows over with Hanna's mom. "Then, Hanna's mom got arrested."

"Oh shit, are you serious?" Her voice sounding much more alert already, "Is Hanna okay?"

"Hanna is as good as she can be right now, I think. I'll fill you in tomorrow at school because I should let you get back to sleep," Emily pushes the keys in the ignition.

"Fine," Paige pouts.

"Try to catch me before first period tomorrow, I love you, " Emily smiles and turns the keys in the ignition.

"I'll happily find you before first period tomorrow, I love you, too, Em."

"Goodnight," Emily ends the call sweetly.


	26. Chapter 26

**Here is a new chapter just in time for the new year! Thank you for all my loyal readers this year, I appreciate all your follows, favorites and reviews. It really makes my day anytime I see any of those. I hope this chapter helps start out 2016 well :) 6B starts in less than 2 weeks, I hope you guys are gearing up for that!**

 **Chapter 26**

 **Next Day**

Emily breaks out in a wide grin when arms wrap around her waist from behind and Paige leans over her shoulder to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Hey," Emily turns her head to catch Paige's lips in a gentle kiss as she closes her locker then spins fully around to face her girlfriend.

"You ready for lunch?" Paige whispers with her small smile, letting her hands linger on Emily's waist.

"Yes," Emily groans then takes one of Paige's hands the is still on her waist to tangle their hands. "My head is so not in school right now."

"It's senior year, is anyone's head in school?" Paige asks with her eyebrows raised, glancing over at Emily as they walk through the halls.

Emily laughs lightly and squeezes Paige's hand tighter, "That's true. But today I'm even more so, I just can't stop thinking about Hanna's mom in jail."

"I know," Paige replies sympathetically, "But, it will work out, the truth always does." Their usual table is empty when they make it in the courtyard outside.

"So," Emily changes the subject when they drop their bags down and take a seat on the benches. "I spoke with my mom this morning and decided that I'm going to start to go physical therapy to see if I can avoid doing shoulder surgery."

"Really?" Paige asks with hope, thinking that Stanford could be a reality once again, even more so if Dominic agrees to help Emily. "When do you start?"

"Hopefully in the next couple of days," Emily taps her fingers on her legs, "I just want to try to get back in the water as soon as I can, if I can," she shakes her head, "so we can swim together again."

Paige dumps her lunch on the table and sighs with a smile, "I hope so too, because I really miss that and you in the water."

Aria and Spencer slide into the open two sweats with their trays of food. Emily avoids Spencer's eyes once again and smiles tight-lipped at Aria, "hey, Aria."

Spencer peeks at Emily with hurt-filled eyes as she gets blatantly ignored once again when Emily and Aria pick up a conversation, leaving her out. "McCullers," a throat clearing makes Paige turn up from her turkey sandwich, "how's it going?"

"Not too bad," Paige mumbles as she finishes swallowing a bite of her sandwich, "swimming, school, Emily, it all keeps me pretty busy. How's it going with you?"

Spencer briefly averts her eyes towards Emily and Aria, "I've been better. Same shit to deal with, you know? While also trying to keep the Hastings-legacy going."

Paige picks up on Spencer's hurt-filled eyes when glancing at Emily and Aria. _Something else Emily probably hasn't told her_. "Ah, family pressure, isn't that always fun," Paige breathes out in a heavy sigh then feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. _'Hey Toby and I are going to investigate this whole Wilden murder in connection with A and everything, you in_?'

"I don't want to hear it right now, Spencer," Emily snaps causing Paige to look up at the girls, clearly missing something vital in the conversation. Emily hastily gathers her lunch and stands up, Paige quickly moves after her.

"Em?" She grasps her upper arm after a few steps, "what's going on?"

Emily takes a deep breath then stares back over at the table, "I just needed to get away, okay?"

When she sees Paige's shoulders slump dejectedly and her face fall with hurt and disappointment, there is that sharp pain of guilt stabbing in Emily's chest, "I'll tell you everything, I promise. I just don't want to talk about here. So, maybe tonight? I just can't look at Spencer right now."

"Okay," Paige exhales, nodding. Emily slides her hand into Paige's then walks back into the hallways. "Where do you want to eat, Em?"

"I don't know," Emily says softly, "just not out there."

"We could be losers and just eat on the swim bleaches together, we will be away from everyone. If that's what you want," Paige suggests as she notes the packed cafeteria and Emily trying to avoid eye contact with the curious eyes around them.

"Yeah," Emily nods, walking them in the direction of the locker rooms, "That would be nice, just you and me."

Paige remembers she was in the middle of texting Caleb back; she knows Emily will probably be pissed if she's involved with anything to do with 'A'. ' _Let me think on that. I'll call you later though._ '

As they approach the locker room, hand in hand, Emily can feel her blood start boiling when she spots Shana walking the opposite direction. All she can picture is the police footage of Shana and Jenna, the attempt to frame her with that ridiculous Hector mask and the red coat. She tries not to break Paige's hand with a death grip as fury builds up in her bones, only getting worse when an image of Ashley sitting in jail flashes in mind. Then even worse, images of Paige and Shana dating when she in Haiti.

"Ouch," Paige yelps beside her when Emily unconsciously unleashes her death grip at the last two images.

"Sorry," Emily whispers, kissing Paige's hand as they pass the pool.

"Jesus, Em, you're going to break my hand," Paige chuckles and rubs her hand when they sit down on the bleaches.

For the remainder of the lunch period, they finish enjoying their food together and avoid the topic of Spencer. Paige notices the slight relief in Emily's eyes when they are away from Spencer but she is anxious to know what caused Emily to be _this_ angry at Spencer. Emily has more patience than anyone Paige's knows, she dealt with her craziness when she was first dealing with being gay. All she knows Spencer must've done something pretty bad. When the bell rings, Paige interlocks their hands and walks Emily to class, earning a kiss at the corner of her mouth before Emily disappears into her classroom.

* * *

 **That Night**

Paige drops her swim bag on her bedroom floor as soon as she gets home. It's a little after six, Emily will be at her house in a few minutes to talk about what's happening with Spencer. She dials Caleb to give him a response on his earlier question.

"Hey I was just going to give you a call since I just got to Toby's to start our investigation deal."

"Sorry, I got caught up at school with Emily then at swim practice," Paige shoves a hand in her sweatpants pocket when she leans against her desk. "I think that I'm going to sit this one out. Emily has already been in a pretty shitty mood because of something Spencer did. And I don't want to make it any worse"

"Really? Do you know what happened?"

"No," Paige shakes her head to herself, "She's on her way here to tell me what happened. She wouldn't tell me at school. Whatever it is, it's bad, she couldn't even be near Spencer at school."

"Huh," Caleb acknowledges then lowers his voice to a whisper, "Toby has been acting weird, too. He has been kind of secretive and jumpy. So, maybe something is going on that involves both of them. If it does, can you let me know? I hate being on the outside of this."

"Yeah, of course. I know the feeling," Paige glances out her window when she sees headlights beam through it, "I think Emily is here, give me an update on your end if you find out anything important and I'll let you know what Emily says."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later," Caleb hangs up as Paige walks downstairs.

"Sorry, I'm late," Emily pecks Paige on the lips, "I wanted to make sure Hanna eating before I left her with the other two."

"That's okay," Paige closes the door behind her girlfriend then turns to her with a soft concerned face, "How's Hanna doing tonight?"

"I think she's doing the best she can," Emily shrugs, "I don't think she will be okay until her mom is out of jail and I'm just praying that actually happens." Emily looks down at her hands as she anxiously fidgets with her keys.

"It will happen," Paige states confidently and places her hands over Emily's, causing her to stop fidgeting and glance up at Paige's face. "So..." Paige slowly changes the topic, "Spencer was there?"

Emily nods wordlessly in response then looks over her shoulder. Paige appears to be the only one home but she would still rather be safe than sorry when discussing this. "Can we talk in your room?"

Paige keeps her eyes on Emily's somber face then nods, "Yeah, of course."

As an extra precaution, Emily shuts the door behind her when they enter Paige's room. She doesn't know why she does that- they are clearly home alone and the RV situation with Spencer is not that bad per say. But, she doesn't want Paige's family to think she's a complete nut case or hate her. Paige is too important for that.

"Em," Paige smiles patiently at her from her bed, "What is it?"

Emily finally picks up her feet and walks over to sit on the edge of Paige's bed. "Spencer kept something pretty big from us. Mona had an RV that had some of the stuff from when she was 'A' and we had all this other important evidence in there, good and bad. There was stuff in there that could've helped Hanna's mom and our fight against A." Emily pauses when her once calm voice starts shaking with anger and frustration, she sucks in a deep breath through her nose. "For some reason, Toby gave that RV to 'A' and Spencer knew about it! they won't tell us why!" Emily shouts and throws her hands up in the air, "And now 'A' has everything and we have nothing again! And Spencer is just sitting there like this is actually okay!"

"Right before you got here, I was on the phone with Caleb and he said that Toby has been acting pretty weird and jumpy with him. I can see if anything slips up between them that might explain why Toby did this," Paige offers the best thing she can think of to help Emily right now. _What the hell was in that RV?_

"Yeah, thanks that would be great," Emily replies weakly.

"So this RV thing….is pretty important. Did Mona know that you guys had it?"

"Yeah," Emily nods then tucks her leg under the other, "the night that I hurt my shoulder, the five of us were together, hiding it and locking up in a secluded and secure place that we only knew."

"Then Toby just gave that away?" Paige probes and chews the side of her thumb, not understanding why Toby would do something that could potentially harm the girls and give 'A' more power.

"I don't know why," Emily mumbles, feeling defeated and just shakes her head.

"But, Em?" Emily glances up to Paige's soft eyes, "I know it must have been so frustrating that Spencer kept something like this from you but with everything that is going on with 'A' and Hanna's mom, I think that you need to try to put it behind you, for now. So, you guys can be there together for Hanna and not have this tension or arguments. It's not worth your energy right now."

Emily exhales heavily, Paige is right. She can't waste her energy on being mad at Spencer right now, Hanna needs her support now more than ever. "You're right," Emily closes her eyes and nods slowly. She opens her eyes then slides her hand across the comforter to raise her fingers slightly and lace them with Paige's.

* * *

 **Next Morning**

As Paige is getting ready for school, she notices she has an e-mail from Dominic Castello about Emily. She opens it eagerly and reads the he wants to meet Emily this Friday afternoon. _Crap._ That's only a couple of days away and happens to be the same day that she has gradually been planning a surprise party for Emily's eighteenth birthday. _They'll make it work_.

She adds Spencer and Aria into a group text, her thumb wavers on Hanna's number but decides against it. _'Can you guys meet me at The Brew in a few minutes?'_

She gets a reply from Spencer when she sits down in her car, ' _Aria and I will be there in 10.'_ After reversing out of her driveway, she dials Caleb, "Hey so I'm meeting Aria and Spencer at The Brew in like ten to talk about that surprise party for Emily this weekend, I didn't know if I should text Hanna about it because of everything…"

"I'm actually at her house right now, let me ask her, I think it might do her some good to get her mind on something else," Caleb says and Paige can hear the muffled sounds of their voices. "We will meet you there."

She hits end as she finds a parking spot close to The Brew and begins making a mental list of who to invite to the party on her way inside. The little nook the girls love to sit in is wide open, so Paige skips ordering and quickly takes the beloved seats. Aria and Spencer walk in only two minutes later, offering her a quick wave before they get in line to get drinks. To pass the time, Paige pulls out a pen and paper to jot down a couple of items they will need.

"Hey, Paige," Aria greets her with a small smile before taking a seat in the chair to her left. As usual, Spencer has the biggest coffee that one can get at The Brew, "Did you invite Hanna to this little gathering by any chance?"

Paige finishes writing down red solo cups then glances up at Spencer, "I called Caleb when I was leaving the house and it sounded like he was going to drag her here either way." As if on cue, Hanna and Caleb walk through the door, Hanna looking exhausted with dark circles around her eyes and baggy sweat pants. Complete opposite of the Hanna that they usually know. "They actually just walked in right now," Paige nods in their direction as the couple makes their way over.

"Glad you're here, Han," Aria reaches out to squeeze Hanna's wrist caringly. Caleb sits down next to Paige on the couch, followed by Hanna at his side.

"So," Paige starts the group conversation, "As you guys know, I have been slowly planning a surprise party for Emily's eighteenth. I thought if I started inviting too many people too early that it might get around to her. So, I was going to start inviting people today. Any suggestions?"

"Don't invite Shana," Spencer immediately blurts out.

"Trust me, she was not at the top of my list," Paige breathes out, not even having to make note of that one, "I'm inviting the whole swim team however I'll make sure that she feels unwelcome. You guys can invite anyone else who you think Emily might want there."

"What else do you need us to do, Paige? Do you want us to bring food or drinks or anything?" Aria asks, lightly taping her fingers on the side of her coffee cup.

"Uhh," Paige scratches the back of her head as she glances over some scribbles on the paper, "Some finger food would be great like those little sandwiches or veggies and dip then napkins, red solo cups and what not."

"We can do that," Aria looks at Spencer, who nods at her in agreement before they glance slightly at Hanna, who still hasn't said a word.

"We can bring drinks," Caleb motions between him and Hanna, "If you want."

"You can, I was kind of doing the BYOB thing because I didn't want to waste money buying it plus I don't want it to get to out of control because it's my aunts lake house and I don't want anyone spending the night, besides me and Emily," she quickly adds at the end, really not wanting a drunken feast with a mess she and Emily would have to deal with the next morning. That Saturday will be Emily's actual birthday and Paige would really enjoy waking up beside her and not having to clean up puke in the bathroom.

"Yeah you don't want anyone interrupting birthday sex time," Hanna mumbles under her breath, not even looking up from her lap. All eyes snap to Hanna.

Paige can feel her face turning bright red, she should've expected that from Hanna.

"Really, Hanna?" Spencer asks matter-of-factly.

"It's true though, isn't it, Paige?" Hanna shrugs and lolls her head in Paige's direction, with her eyebrows raised in a teasing way.

"Anyways," Paige ignores Hanna to quickly change the topic, "Can you guys be at my house at like four on Friday?"

Aria and Spencer look at each other before nodding in unison, "Yeah, that sounds good. When do you think you'll tell Em to get there?"

Paige taps her mouth as she thinks about Emily's appointment with Dominic at three-thirty in Philly then having to drive up to the lake house from there. "Probably like six-thirty or seven, I got an appointment for her with this famous swim coach in Philly at three-thirty on Friday. So, I'm guessing around then."

"She got it?!" Caleb turns to her with an enthusiastic grin.

"Yeah! I got an e-mail this morning that he wants to meet with her," Paige matches his proud grin.

"You knew about this?" Hanna furrows her eyebrows and lightly bumps his arm with her elbow.

"Yeah," Caleb nods, "I helped Paige put together some awesome videos of Emily to send to this guy."

"Who is this famous swim coach? I thought Em couldn't swim for a long time?" Spencer inquiries

"His name is Dominic Castello and he has trained some of the best college swimmers and several gold medalists. I thought after Emily heals he could help her get a scholarship for next year."

"I think that's a really good idea," Aria supports with a smile.

"That's all Emily's ever talked about, forever. Maybe it'll give her some hope," Spencer says as she looks at Aria with a compassionate face then back to Paige.

* * *

A long time after swim practice is over, Paige shoulders her swim bag and pushes through the locker room doors. Once she told the team about the surprise party this weekend, she was bombarded with questions from how can I help? Will there be booze? Can I bring my boyfriend?

At times she wishes that she had decided that her and Emily would just have a whole weekend alone together instead of a whole surprise party. That's what they have Saturday for though. She's almost to her car when she senses someone walking up beside her. Due to recent incidents, her body tenses and she snaps her head away to see Ben walking up beside her. _Jesus Christ._

"So I'm guessing I'm not invited to the party this weekend?" He states smugly.

"No," Paige rolls her eyes at such a ridiculous question, "You're not."

"Oh come on," he keeps following her to her as she unlocks, "It'll be fun. Me, you and Emily at the same party."

"Or does that make you insecure?" He adds when she doesn't respond right away as she throws her swim bag into her back seat. "You know that I use to kiss your girlfriend all the time?"

Paige laughs loudly, "Trust me I'm not even in the slightest because I know Emily actually enjoys kissing me," she turns to see Ben purse his lips together tightly. She opens her door to slide into the seat, "It's like she can't get enough of me." With that comment he huffs and walks away. Her and Ben have not said a word to each other since she started dating Emily, so that was weird and unexpected.

Two texts appear on the home screen of her phone.

One from Emily: ' _I hope practice wasn't too much of a killer. I also just talked with Spencer, I think we're good now. Thanks for giving me that push 3'_

One from Amanda: ' _Can I bring this guy I just started to date to the party this weekend?'_

She specifically said they can bring a date if they want, _why the hell does no one listen to her_? What was she thinking planning a party? She has no patience for this.

* * *

 **Next Night**

Emily sits at the dining room table, staring at the disaster in her living room. Her shaky hands pull some left over plaster out of her hair. She is still in complete shock that 'A' caused a car to plow into her living room, pretty much destroying half of the house. She looks at her mom now, standing at the edge of the living room explaining to another cop what happened. Her mom looks as though she is about to fall apart, she just got suspended from the police station because she stole Wilden's key and now they don't even have a house to stay in; all because of _her._ Emily feels her heart clench painfully tight, she doesn't know how much worse she could possibly feel.

Right after she was finished being questioned by the police, Emily texted all of the girls, including Spencer about what happened. Another text from Aria makes Emily's phone vibrate harshly against the wood table, _'Are you sure you don't want me to come over? I really don't mind.'_

' _No, it's fine. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow.'_

12:45, she sighs, she knows she should call Paige and risk waking her up, otherwise she will get frantic texts and calls from a worried girlfriend if she just leaves her a text or finds out from someone else or happens to drive by and see that half of her house is in pieces.

"Em?" A low- raspy sleep filled voice croaks into the phone.

"Hey, sorry to wake you. But, I knew you would want me to call with something like this…"

The words falling out of Emily's mouth immediately start waking her up faster than caffeine, "Something like what? What happened?"

"A car flew into my living room, which is pretty much destroyed. So, it looks like we are going to be staying in a motel from awhile."

"Holy shit!" Paige shoots up in bed, "Are you okay? Is your mom okay? What the hell happened?"

"My mom and I are fine, don't worry. We are just a bit shaken up. Our house isn't doing so well though. I'm sure that will be the talk at school tomorrow," Emily mumbles bitterly at the end.

"I'm getting dressed right now and I'll be right there," Paige throws off her comforters and fumbles around for something she can pull on. She silently swears to herself when she smashes her toe into the corner of her desk.

"Paige, it's okay. I'm fine, we will probably be leaving soon anyways," Emily adds when her mom starts walking towards her with her head bowed.

"Are you sure? Because I can help with anything you guys need me to," Paige sits back down on the side of her bed with her sweat pants in hand and her phone in between her shoulder and ear.

"Yeah," Emily answers quietly and her mom smiles at her weakly, "We might need help in the next few days but tonight, I think we will just sleep when we get to the motel… hopefully."

"Okay," Paige sighs in defeat then drops her sweatpants to the ground, "You'll let me know if anything else happens or if you need me, right?"

"I will, I promise. Otherwise I'll talk to you in the morning," Emily studies her hands and notices that they have finally stopped shaking, probably due to Paige's voice always having a soothing effect on her.

"Good," Paige reaches to the side of her bed to grab Emily's sweatshirt that she always has waiting for her, "Give your mom a hug for me, I'm sure she needs one. I'm glad you two are safe though. I love you."

"I will," Emily agrees and smiles at her mom, "I love you, too. Goodnight." Emily pushes back in the chair when she hangs up and pulls her mom into a hug, "Paige asked me to give you a hug for her."

Her mom pulls back with a faint smile on her face, "A hug at a time like this is always nice. I know I have said this a couple of times but I'm really glad you have someone like Paige. You have been through so much in the past couple of years and lately your luck has not been the best, with your shoulder and now this," she gestures to the crumbled living room with a frown, "But, you are incredibly lucky to have a girl like that, especially in high school. Just don't forget that, Em."

"She makes me feel so lucky every day, trust me," Emily gushes, "But, let's get our stuff together and get to the motel, I think we could both use some sleep until we have to deal with the rest of this." She loops her arm around her mom's shoulders as they walk up the stairs to gather their belognings.


	27. Chapter 27

**I see that a couple of you are getting worried that the "bad" part is coming up. Don't worry! I will try to make it as painless as possible but still realistic. It's Paige and Emily, they always got this! This chapter is the day before the surprise party, tried to add some fluff in there before that took place. I hope you all enjoy that! And PLL starts again this tuesday, I hope you guys are excited as I am and keep Paily in your thoughts!**

 **Chapter 27**

 **Next Day**

After having a brief college consult with Ezra, Emily walks away feeling a little better about college **.** Even if it's not Stanford, the reality still makes her heart sink but she has to make something for herself outside of swimming since that has been ripped away from her. She leans against her locker and types an e-mail to Zoey, as Ezra suggested that she do for a recommendation later.

"Hey, you," the sound of her gentle voice makes Emily look up from her phone and type faster to wrap up the e-mail, "Hey, sorry, I'm just finishing this e-mail to my supervisor from this past summer. Ezra recommended that I get some recommendation for college applications."

Paige wants to break down and tell her about her appointment with Dominic, give her some hope. _He will fix this, he has to._ "Other than that, how are you doing?"

Emily takes a moment to hit send then shove her phone into her back pocket, "Tired, it was a long night, obviously. But, I think I'm doing the best I can, considering the circumstances."

"You had me worried sick last night, Em," Paige reaches out for Emily's forearm, letting her hand slowly glide down until their fingers slip together. A small smile tugs at the corner of Emily's lips. "So do you think it was…" Paige whispers quietly, letting her voice trail off.

"I don't know what else it could be," Emily mutters, keeping her eyes fixed on their linked hands, "No driver was at the scene and no driver has been found. It's the only thing that it could be."

"They have really stepped up their game then," Paige tries not to let the dread shake her voice as she exhales. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Emily doesn't miss the fear that starts to well in Paige's eyes as she looks away and the slow distinct manner that Paige speaks in to stabilize her quivering voice. Today, both of them need some sort of comfort. "You can start by giving me a kiss."

The suggestion makes Paige look up to Emily's inviting eyes, she gives her hand a gentle squeeze before leaning into press their lips together. For a moment, her crumpled house and 'A' are forgotten and all there is, is Paige. Just as Paige starts to pull away, Emily follows her lips and yanks her closer by the hand to prolong the moment. Paige grins into the kiss, her heart beating wildly as soon as she was pulled back into the kiss. One of her favorite feelings ever.

"Now that was helpful," Emily breaks the kiss, keeping their hands entwined.

"Are we interrupting?" Spencer walks up with Caleb, both of them smirking at the girls. Paige immediately blushes and feels Emily release her hand when Caleb pulls Emily into a friendly hug. "I'm so sorry, Emily. Let me know if there is anything I can do. I might not be able to beat up anyone very well. But, if I need to hack a phone or a car, I can do that."

Emily chuckles as she pulls out of Caleb's embrace, "Thanks Caleb. I'll let my mom know that you offer your criminal hacking skills as a sign of support."

Spencer tries to hold back a smile as she rolls her eyes at Caleb's offer, "Speaking of your mom, how is she doing?" The slow and particular tone that Spencer asks in, really says _any update on the key that you stole from Wilden's file._

"As far as I know, the missing piece of evidence has yet to be found. So, my mom is still suspended and will be until further notice," the words burst the small bubble Emily formed as soon as her lips met Paige's a couple of minutes ago.

"It'll show up, Em," Paige says naively, rubbing Emily's upper arm, "stuff gets misplaced all the time."

Emily and Spencer exchange discreet guilty looks before Emily turns back to Paige with a forced smile, "Yeah, I know."

The conversation is broken up when the bell rings loudly through the hall, indicating that morning break has ended and it's time for third period.

"Walk you to class?" Paige asks holding her arm out for Emily, who happily holds onto it.

"That means you'll be walking me to class too, Paige," Caleb interposes.

"Well I will see you three at lunch then," Spencer gives a small wave as she walks backwards in the opposite direction down the halls.

Caleb walks on the other side of Paige, "So, you're not going to let me hold on to your arm also and properly walk me to class."

Paige rolls her eyes and slaps him playfully, "You wish."

Emily's phone buzzes in her pocket and she opens it to see an e-mail from Zoey. _Some good news._ The three stop in front of her third period class and Paige notices Emily's nose practically in her phone.

"Sorry," Emily explains, "I just got an e-mail back from Zoey. She said she would love to write me a recommendation and that she wants to meet for coffee after school today."

"That's great, Em. That recommendation later will be helpful for more than just college applications also. But, I gotta get to class I'll see you at lunch?" Paige gazes attentively at Emily, hoping that she will at least glance up from her phone before she has to go. It's as if she had spoken out loud because Emily shoves her phone back in her pocket and leans over to give Paige a chaste kiss on the cheek, "Yeah, I'll see you soon."

Caleb wiggles his eyebrows at her as he walks past Paige, earning him an elbow in the side for his mocking.

* * *

 **That Night**

The fridge at her aunt's lake house is empty, meaning there is no rotten food she has to clean out and there is more room for food for Emily's party tomorrow. She double checks the cupboards to make sure there are some utensils for her and Emily that Saturday to cook. Paige mentally notes to get some ingredients for breakfast in bed for Emily. Her phone beeps, indicating a text as she walks into the bedroom.

This time, Caleb started a group message with her and Toby. ' _Just went to Hanna's and Mona was there. There were acting even more secretive then normal. They are up to something, probably involving Hanna's mom, well at least Mona is up to something. Do either of you guys know anything?'_

Before responding, Paige pulls out some candles out of her bag and shoves them in the nightstand next to the queen size bed. She wants to make the night even more special once the party vacates. There is already another text from Toby by the time Paige gets back to her phone, _'No I haven't talked to Spencer that much since I've been in New York. Hopefully she's updated you guys and the girls on that number I've found.'_

To Paige's surprise, Caleb and Spencer told her and Emily at the same time that Toby found a potential lead on a number from Nigel Wright's phone to some apartment in New York City. She doesn't remember the last time she found out an important piece of evidence at the same time that Emily finds out. But, from there it has seemed like a dead end. Paige texts Toby and Caleb back, ' _I haven't heard anything either. But, is Mona ever not up to something?'_

She scans her aunt's house from the entryway, to make sure there isn't anything she forgot to check for tomorrow. When she can't think of anything, she flips the flash light on her phone as she walks to her car in the dimly lit lot of her aunt's house. As she drives through the empty roads, her mind gets lost in tomorrow night, hopeful that all goes smoothly. Most of all, she is looking forward to being able to _really_ spend the night with Emily, cuddling her after sex then waking up next to her in the morning and bringing her breakfast in bed to officially say _Happy eighteenth birthday._ The sudden ringing of her phone shakes her from her daydream, she smiles when she sees Emily's picture flashing on her screen.

"Hey, Em," she starts the phone call but keeps her eyes focused on the road.

"Hey, are you home?" Paige can detect the slight urgency in her girlfriend's voice.

"Uh," Paige stalls a bit, almost slipping up where she is, "I will be in about fifteen or twenty. Why?"

Emily groans into the phone, "Mona just confessed to killing Wilden."

"She what?" Paige bellows into the phone, her mind immediately flashing to Caleb's text about Hanna and Mona not too long ago. But, Mona killing Wilden is definitely believable.

"Yeah, it just happened, I don't have all the details yet," Emily's tone starts to fall to a whisper, "I'm here with my mom, can you come by our motel?"

"Yes, I will. What's your room number?"

"Umm," there is a quick pause and a squeak of a door on the other end of the phone, "219."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few," Paige hangs up and drops her phone back in the cup holder. Hitting the gas a little harder to push the speed limit to get to the motel quickly.

When Paige arrives at the motel, Emily is outside the room on her phone with her arms wrapped around herself to block out the chilly fall weather. Their eyes lock and Emily leans against the railing smiling. She mouths a 'sorry' as Paige gets closer. Paige gives Emily a quick peck on the lips then whispers, "I'm going to go say hi to your mom." It's a perfect time to tell Emily's mom about tomorrow night, she wasn't sure how to handle it without Emily being suspicious that she's calling her mom.

Paige knocks on 219 and is met with a somber face when Pam opens the door. "Oh, Paige!" She smiles slightly, "Emily told me, you were coming by to see her. I just didn't think you would have to see me such a mess like this." Pam motions to herself and laughs then steps aside to give Paige room to come in.

"You don't look a mess at all," Paige shakes her head, "And even if you did, you have a right to after all of that." She steps forward when Pam closes the door to give her a comforting hug. "Let me know if there is anything I can do, bring a home cooked meal by or anything."

Pam gives Paige a slight pat on the back then pulls away, "Thanks, Paige. Maybe join Emily and I for dinner one night, since we are going to be eating out a lot. And with Mona now confessing to Wilden's murder, that is just adding to Emily's stress right before her eighteenth birthday." She runs a hand over her face as though she has forgotten her daughter's birthday through all the mess.

"Emily's birthday is actually wanted I talked to you about before Emily gets off the phone," Pam nods at Paige to continue. "The girls, Emily's friends, and their boyfriends have been helping me put together a surprise party at my aunt's lake house for tomorrow night, I mainly just invited the swim team. I didn't know how or when to bring it up to you since all of this has been going on. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Pam claps her hands together, clearly relieved, "That is so considerate of you, Paige. Honestly, with everything going on I almost forgot and really didn't have anything planned. There isn't going to be drinking at this party though, right?"

"No!" Paige shakes her head, "Of course not. Just some good food, music and cake. The other three girls are planning to spend the night. I don't know if that's okay," she starts nervously rambling when she realizes how this is sounding, "We won't be sleeping together, Emily can sleep in one of the guest rooms."

"Paige," Pam laughs lightly and puts her hand on her arm to stop her ramble, "It's okay, really. It'll be good for Emily to get out of this motel room for the night. I'm sure she's getting sick of me."

"I also have another little surprise for her," Paige is interrupted when Emily pushes open the door.

"Sorry, Paige. I had to take that. You ready to go?"

"Honey, did you find anything out?" Pam asks as Emily grabs one of her favorite varsity style jackets from the closet near the door. She slips her arms into the maroon sleeves and pulls on the edges the collar to adjust the fit.

"Mona is still in questioning, so nothing yet really. Hopefully they will find out more tonight or in the morning," Emily answers, mostly honest this time.

"Okay," Pam nods, satisfied, "Don't stay out too late and please pick up if I call you, Em."

"I will," Emily groans, holding the door open for Paige to walk out.

"I'll see you soon, Paige," Pam yells after her with a small wave.

"So," Paige starts as they walk down the aisle of rooms, "Mona just being questioned by the police and Tanner, is that really it?" Paige asks with a hint of skepticism.

"Not entirely," Emily sighs then reaches for Paige's hand when they walk down the stairs. "Just couldn't say everything in front of my mom."

"I figured," Paige glances around the rather empty parking lot then turns to Emily, "What did you have in mind? A walk? A car ride?"

"Umm," Emily exhales loudly as she thinks, "Can we walk to get a hot chocolate then sit in your car and talk? There's that small place just around the corner, a nice change up from The Brew."

"A hot chocolate would be amazing right now. Lead the way, Fields," Paige gives Emily a playful shoulder nudge, that is rewarded by a wide grin and a small giggle.

"So, I had that meeting today with Zoey," Emily begins tentatively, not knowing how Paige is going to react to her thinking about going to Nicaragua with Habitat for Humanity. Her mom already cried when she told her about it earlier.

"And how did that go?" Paige asks when Emily didn't continue right away.

"It went well," Emily hesitates before continuing, "She asked me if I wanted to go with them to Nicaragua this summer." Her eyes immediately shift to Paige to gauge her reaction.

"And what did you say?"

"I said that I wanted to," as soon as the words come out of her mouth she can feel Paige stiffen against her and Paige keeps her eyes pointedly a head. Is she hurt? Or upset? When Paige inhales sharply through her nose, Emily knows she's hurt. "It's just you're going to be training at Stanford during the time I'm gone. I need to focus on something other than missing you like crazy. And I need to show these colleges that I'm more than some injured swimmer with crushed dreams."

The tension in Paige's muscles loosens as she hears Emily's the pain and hopelessness in Emily's voice. Again, she has to fight the urge to break down and tell Emily that maybe just maybe their Stanford dream still has a chance because of the meeting with Dominic that Paige scored for her. But, that is a surprise that she has for tomorrow, wrapped in a little box for her. Paige stops them before they go into the small coffee shop, "Em, you are so much more than an injured swimmer, who will recover. You are Emily Fields. You are the strongest person I know, dealing with some hellish life, more than any other teenager has gone through. You have the biggest heart, you volunteered in Haiti, you want to volunteer in Nicaragua. Somewhere in that gigantic heart of yours you have managed to almost forgive Mona for what she did to you. You forgave me for how I treated you. You were co-captain with me for the swim team because you have outstanding leadership skills and people admire you. So, no you are not just some injured swimmer. You are more than that."

Emily stares deeply into the infinite brown orbs, her heart feeling like it's going to explode at the wonderful words gushing out of Paige's mouth. She can't even think of anything to say back that would amount to how good Paige made her feel about herself in that instant. To speak those words, she cups Paige's cheek with her free hand to press her lips against hers, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Paige whispers. "Hot chocolate on me?" She walks a few steps to hold the door open for Emily.

The little coffee shop is fairly empty, with only a couple of older people sitting on the couches and at tables with their laptops. No familiar faces, unlike at The Brew, where you know everyone's story as they walk in the door.

"Two medium hot chocolates with whip cream," she winks at Emily, knowing that she secretly wanted that. Paige throws some money in the tip jar while the two wait for their drinks. She feels a sudden vibrate in her back pocket and pulls out her phone to see a text from Caleb, ' _I'm sure you two have heard that Mona confessed to Wilden's murder. Thankfully she did because I had to stop Hanna from confessing to it.'_

The barista slides their drinks across the counter and Paige gives Emily a small nudge then hands her the phone to read the text from Caleb. Paige grabs their drinks from the counter and when she turns around, Emily hands her phone back to her with an unimpressed expression on her face. The corners of her mouth are turned down in a small frown and her eyebrows are knit together. "Got to be kidding me," Emily mumbles and accepts the drink Paige is handing her.

"You didn't know?" Paige asks outside the coffee shop.

Emily shakes her head while taking a sip of the hot chocolate. "Hanna is so stupid sometimes. I can't believe she even considered that for a second."

"Thankfully Caleb stopped her," Paige hits the unlock button on her car key. "That could've easily been Hanna in that interrogation room instead of Mona."

"That doesn't make it that much better," Emily grumbles as she goes around the car to the passenger side to open the door. "Mona obviously didn't do it, why is she doing this?"

"Are you sure about that?" Paige questions after she shuts the door and slides into her car. "I mean she was the original A last year."

"Yeah," Emily nods her head then takes a sip of her drink, "But, I don't think she's capable of murder."

"Didn't she run Hanna over with a car last year?" Paige reminds her and Emily looks at her, silently agreeing with her eyes. "And I call that attempted murder."

"I don't know, it just doesn't seem right," Emily stares out the windshield ay the empty road in front of them.

"Well for now, at least Hanna's mom might be saved," Paige pats around on the side of the door until she finds her iPod then plugs it in and plays a song that might make Emily forget about Mona for half a second.

Moth's Wings by Passion Pit. The song from their first picnic, the band they both love and were supposed to see. She can see the smile start to spread across Emily's lips as she turns to face Paige. "It's like a year later and I still love this song and this band." Emily lets her head fall against the head.

"Maybe they will be playing again soon. I can take you on a proper date to see them and not fuck it up this time," Paige sighs and runs her finger along the rim of the coffee cup.

Emily laughs in a teasing way, "Are you sure you don't need a boy for insurance? Maybe you can call up Sean and see if he is still interested."

"Fuck off," Paige giggles then lightly slaps Emily's upper arm. Even though there is no reason to be embarrassed, Paige can feel her cheeks turning pink at how ridiculous she was then. When she finally controls her laughing, "I really am sorry for all of that. I really messed up back then."

Emily sighs when Paige apologizes with her head hanging low, as if she is ashamed. "It's okay, she reaches over to take Paige's hand in hers. "It took you some time, but in the end we found our way back to each other."

"I know. It's just everything in between…." Paige doesn't know how to finish the sentence without sounding unreasonably jealous of Maya and Samara.

"You know," Emily starts when she notices Paige struggling with the end of her sentence, "After we dated last year then Maya came back. Her and I never had the same connection that we did when we first met." This revelation causes Paige to finally glance back up at Emily with curious, less apologetic eyes. "Maybe we never really had that connection. Or maybe it was dating you that made me realize that because we had such a connection," Emily is unsure if this is turning into a slight rant or vent, she has never gotten this off of her chest because she felt so guilty for feeling that way about her dead girlfriend. "You and I like the same things. We like swimming, sports, the same music," her right hand gestures the center screen that has a little picture of the album of Passion Pits. "Maya and I didn't have any of that in common. She was the complete opposite of that. I think dating you made me realize that."

The little rant sucked all of the emotional energy out of Emily, she shifts in her seat slightly then lays her head on Paige's shoulder. "I'm sorry," Paige whispers, a little unsure of what else to say.

"I think Maya knew though," Emily mumbles, "She knew about you, obviously. Then at the end of the year swim party, I was paying attention to the team. For some reason, you weren't in the room and I was commenting on a swim video of you. I'm guessing Maya heard because she tried to get me to quit the swim team and leave town. Then was upset because she thought that meant the swim team was more important than her."

"That's ridiculous," Paige scoffs and rolls her eyes. _Fucking Maya._ "Sorry, I don't mean to be cruel."

"You're not being cruel," Emily lifts her head up and shakes her head, "I think my heart knew there was that disconnect with her and what it really needed was you. But, my brain didn't get the message. It took that night for me to get drunk and drugged for them to communicate apparently."

The vision of Emily on her doorstep that night is still crystal clear in Paige's mind, she remembers how shocked she was to see her after an entire summer. She can still feel the thud in her chest and the butterflies in her stomach frim when Emily kissed her that night, even in her drugged state. In that moment, she sees Emily's eyes drop to her lips and her head slowly tilt to the side; Paige closes her eyes until their lips meet in the middle. At first, it's slow but then Emily's hand moves to grab the side of her neck, kissing her harder. Paige drops the cup of hot chocolate in the closest cup holder then leans as close to Emily as the center console will allow to grab Emily's face with both of her hands. Paige can feel the subtle vibration of Emily's soft moan when the kiss deepens, tasting the sweet hot chocolate on her tongue. Emily's hand falls from the side of Paige's neck down to the hem of her sweater.

Her stomach muscles involuntarily twitch under Emily's soft caresses, causing Emily to smirk slightly into their kiss. The annoying sound of Emily's phone ringing, finally forces them apart. "It's my mom, I gotta go," Emily grumbles.

"Do you want to go for a run or a walk before school tomorrow or something? Catch me up on Mona and get you out of that motel?" Paige asks, knowing that is the best time to tell her about her meeting with Dominic and her aunt's lake house.

"Sure, I would love to," Emily smiles, "Knowing I'll see your face in the morning will give me some encouragement." She leans over to give Paige a chaste kiss.

"Good, I'll see you bright and early then," Paige whispers.

"You will," Emily says before she shuts the car door, walking toward the stairs to her motel room.


	28. Chapter 28

**Here is a new chapter to bring you come Paige fill, which we have been unfortunately missing on the show. I hope you guys have enjoyed the last two episodes of 6B, if you have watched it. Poor, Em though. I feel like she always gets the short end of the stick. Anyways, here it is. The day of her surprise party. Trying to make it as painless as possible but still realistic!**

 **Chapter 28**

 **Next Morning**

Emily walks up to the motel room with an extra spring in her step, feeling optimistic and elated with the early birthday presents from Paige. She had nearly forgotten her own eighteenth birthday tomorrow after the disaster at her house and the debacle with Mona, it wasn't the first thing on her mind. But, a night in with Paige, just the two of them, is exactly what she needs. If she's even luckier, she will be able to shut off her phone and actually just be with Paige with no outside distractions or drama. And there might be a little hope for Stanford, somehow Paige got her a meeting with Dominic. Paige is right, she could move to California and take a gap year until she's ready for Stanford's scholarships again. She _could_ be with Paige and their dream could come true, again. The thought of that dream in her grasp again, makes anything seem possible.

"Hey mom," she says as she opens the door to their new "home".

"Hi, sweetie," her mom turns around in the small kitchen area, "how was your jog with Paige?"

"It was good, good way to wake me up," Emily shoves her hands in her jacket pockets, silently trying to figure out a decent lie about Paige's aunt's lake house. Her mom probably wouldn't be thrilled if it was only the two of them up there, alone. "Paige actually had a couple of early birthday surprises for me."

"Did she?"

"Yeah," Emily takes a couple of steps closer to the kitchen, "One she asked if I wanted to stay at her aunt's lake house tonight. The girls will also be there, so it won't just be like me and her. I'll probably sleep on the couch with Spencer or something, I won't share a bed with Paige."

"Em," Pam smiles at her to silence her uncomfortable ramble, "It's fine. Paige talked to me last night about it, when you were on the phone. I thought it would be a good idea to get you out of this motel room and Rosewood with everything going on"

"Oh…okay good," Emily nods slightly, feeling relieved that part is over with.

Pam turns off the stove and turns around to fully face Emily, "I trust you and Paige very much, but I also know that you are about to turn eighteen tomorrow and you have gotten pretty serious with Paige," she glances towards the floor and rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. Emily can sense where this might be going, she thought she avoided this talk after coming out. "And as your mom, I feel like I have to ask. But, are you and Paige…"

"Oh god, mom," Emily blurts out, squeezes her eyes shut and turns away slightly. All of her insides are cringing at having to have this conversation right now.

"I'm sorry!" Pam still doesn't glance up from the floor yet, "It's just as your mother, I felt like I should be asking. I would be asking if Paige were a boy, I just want to be treating the situation equally." She says with a one shoulder shrug.

"It's not like I can get pregnant!"

"I know, I know," Pam finally looks up, her eyes still closed. "That is one worry off my shoulder. Just be careful and safe, however that means when you're dating a girl. I don't know what that means, maybe I should've read up on how to do this." Pam mumbles to herself, "I'm assuming you and Paige are both good. And if you had any worries you would talk to me or someone at least."

"Yes, we are good," Emily states quickly, desperately wanting this awkward conversation to stop right now.

"You said that Paige had two surprises for you," Pam stammers out a bit, clearly feeling the discomfort amongst both of them.

"Yeah," Emily nods as her eyes stare at the ground now, unable to meet her mother in the eye. "She got me an appointment with Dominic Castello, that famous swim coach, it sounds like there is a possibility that he will train me after my shoulder heals. He might be able to get me ready for next year's scholarships. So, I'm going to leave last period early to get there for a meeting."

"That was a very thoughtful gift of Paige, she probably had to put a lot of work into get you a meeting with him. He is the best of the best!"

"I'm going to get changed for school now," Emily announces, still feeling incredibly uncomfortable as she turns on her heels towards the closet of clothes near the door.

* * *

 **Later that day**

Tears leak from Emily's eyes as soon as she gets in her car then grips her steering wheel so tight that her knuckles turn white. A mixture of anguish and resentment course through her when her hopes are crushed again. _How stupid can she be to get her hopes up, again?_ She should know by now that nothing ever works out for her.

After a minute, she turns the key in the ignition then wipes at her wet cheeks with one of her knuckles. She texts Paige, ' _Leaving Philly now. Be there soon,'_ before pulling out of the parking lot to head to the lake house. _How could Paige do this to her? Not tell Dominic about her shoulder? She let her get her hopes up._ Her hand grips the steering wheel even tighter as she pushes down on the accelerator until she hits 80 mph. She sucks in a deep breath and takes her foot off the gas, letting her speed drop back down. _What if Shana does get that place on Stanford's team?_ She shakes her head; she can't keep doing this to herself. This weekend is supposed to be about her eighteenth birthday, she has the chance to spend the night alone with her girlfriend at a lake house. She _needs_ to relax. She cranks up the music in attempt to drain away all of those emotions.

Twenty minutes later, she thought she was doing so much better until she pulls up to the address of the lake house. This time, there are no more tears, just annoyance and anger. She slams the door and marches up the front door.

* * *

 **Next Morning**

Paige's eyes creek open to see the back of Emily's dark waves, her heart instinctively beats faster. That is until she remembers the night before, definitely did not go as planned. She can already feel the little distance between them, she had hoped that sometime during the night that Emily would roll over and curl up into her side. Everything would've been okay then. _They aren't going to be together next year._ Her heart twists as she remembers Emily's direct but tear-filled words and the rest of the heart breaking conversation. Today is her girlfriend's eighteenth birthday, she needs to try to get it together and not make things worse today. She eases herself out of bed, careful not to wake the sleeping girl next to her.

She always thought that Emily would look peaceful when she slept, but this morning she doesn't. The corners of her lips are turned down into a small frown with that small dimple she gets above her left eyebrow when she's deep in thought or angry. Paige lets out a heavy sigh, feeling terrible, then heads to the kitchen to start cooking breakfast.

It's about ten minutes later when she hears the bedroom door open and feet dragging across the hard wood floor. "Morning birthday girl!" Paige attempts to greet her enthusiastically as she flips the pieces of French toast over on the pan.

"Morning," Emily mumbles quietly and rubs at her tired eyes, "What are you making?"

"French toast, eggs and bacon," she smiles over her shoulder to see Emily sitting down at the kitchen table with a less than happy face Paige turns back to the stove, trying to concentrate on something else other than that face.

"Well, it smells great," Emily observes after a couple moments of silence.

"Anything for the birthday girl," Paige states as she scoops the food onto two plates.

Emily forces one of the weakest smiles Paige has seen when she places the plates down on the table with a small, "Thanks", at the end. She has to try to not let it get to her, its Emily's birthday. A long, heavy awkward silence fills the room between them as they poke around at their food.

Paige frowns slightly when Emily's phone buzzes and she immediately draws her attention to it instead. She tries not to stare when Emily is engrossed in her phone, something she should be use to by now. "Any word about Jenna?" Paige asks, attempting to start any sort of conversation before the silence drives her insane.

"Spencer," Emily slowly draws her name out as she types quickly with her thumbs, "Saw her a bit last night at the hospital when Shana was there. She tries to talk to her but Shana wouldn't tell Spencer anything."

 _Fucking Spencer,_ the person who at the last minute told her to invite Shana. Maybe the party wouldn't have been such a train wreck if Shana and Jenna weren't there. She could've dealt with some of the tears from Emily but not this mess on top of it and being pushed away, _again._ "I shouldn't have invite Shana," Paige mutters, "I wasn't going to but then Spencer convinced me to at the last minute. I'm sorry."

There is always an agenda with Spencer. _What is it this time?_ She knows how she feels about them, especially Shana. The name reminds Emily of Stanford; she stabs harshly at the eggs. "It's fine, you didn't know."

"Do you know why they wanted them there so badly?" Paige tries to push gently before she takes a bite of French toast.

Emily glances at her phone briefly then sighs heavily, "I don't know this time. They haven't mentioned anything to me. Spencer is probably just on one of her crazy theories."

Paige smiles faintly when Emily puts it like that, _Spencer and her crazy theories._ And at least she isn't the only one on the outside. She begins to feel bad at what she said last night before they got into bed, she should've known something was up. "I'm sorry about last night, Em. What I said about Jenna…" she clarifies with a tiny shrug, "Maybe Spencer is right on whatever crazy theory she has about them."

Emily ignores the first part of Paige's sentence, she's not ready to hash out everything from last night. Inside she is petrified to further that conversation. "I'm just glad that I was there because who knows if Jenna would still be here…"

"Yeah, thank god that you got out during cake time," Paige attempts to lighten the mood, which produces a small smile and laugh from Emily.

"Sorry, the cake was good though."

"Well," Paige mumbles with her mouth half full then swallows, "There is plenty of left-over that you can bring to the motel with you."

"Speaking of the motel, I should probably get going," Emily puts her utensils down on her plate, "I had to lie and say the girls were spending the night also."

Paige nods, her heart sinking as soon as Emily said she had to go. "I told your mom that also."

"Before I go, do you need some help cleaning up? I don't want to leave your aunt's place like this…"

She _wants_ to ask Emily to stay because maybe this awkwardness will pass if they talk or do what they need to do. _Maybe she just needs time or space_ , she thinks to herself. "No," she shakes her head, "It's your birthday and I threw this party for you. I'll take care of it."

"Are you sure?" Emily asks in her caring tone that makes her heart rise back up a little in her chest.

"Yes," Paige smiles reassuringly at her.

While Emily packs up her bag, Paige cleans their breakfast dishes and wraps up pieces of cake for Emily to take home. Emily reappears in the living room wearing black yoga pants and a grey hoodie. "Here," Paige holds out the pieces of cake wrapped in aluminum foil then they walk gawkily to the door together.

"Thanks for last night," Emily says with a forced smile that causes Paige's heart to twist sadly. Then she leans forward to give Paige a quick kiss on the cheek before walking out the door. Paige lets her head fall against the door as soon as she closes it. _This is not how today was supposed to go._

* * *

The only thing Emily can think about as she drives back towards Rosewood is that conversation last night. She can still feel her heart splitting in half at Paige's broken face and her cracked voice. _3000 miles is a long way. Four years is a long time. A lot can happen._ The sharp pain stabs in her in the chest again. Paige is giving up on them. Yesterday, she was knocked down again when she had her swimming dreams crushed. Again. Stanford off the table, it is not even an option in a year. But, even with that, she had hope for her and Paige. That they would make it work because they are Emily and Paige.

Nothing ever works out though, does it? Her mind flashes back to the Halloween train together, in that carriage, both still in disbelief that they were _together._ Because then _some things actually work out when you aren't looking._ Tears she has been holding back all morning start pouring out of her eyes. She gave herself too much hope with swimming and Paige. She needs to stop hoping because things never work out for her. Almost at the last second, Emily sees a deer run out in front of her and she slams on her brakes, coming to a skidding stop. The deer doesn't even notice her and continues off into the trees. She sighs heavily and wipes her face to get herself together.

Emily reaches in her purse to grab her phone and dial Hanna.

"Hey, birthday girl! I still can't believe you're eighteen. You are now legally an adult, you can buy all the porn you want. But, you gotta cut all that illegal activity out because you'll be screwed now."

Emily rolls her eyes, "Thanks, Hanna."

"I'm surprised to hear from you though, I thought you would be humping like bunnies at Paige's lake house," she can hear Hanna chewing on the other end, but the words cause Emily's heart to tighten again.

"No, I'm on my way home right now. Well to the motel, I mean."

"What? Why?" Hanna asks incredulously, "Is everything okay?"

"Uhh…" Emily sucks in a deep breath to fight back the tears she feels welling up in her eyes again. "It could be better. But, it's okay."

"Emily, what happened?" Hanna pries in the most concerned way, "I know if everything was really okay, you would be with Paige still and your mouth would be put to much better use."

"Hanna!" She shrieks as she turns off the highway.

"Em, come on. You can tell me. What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it…right now, it's my birthday and I would rather not focus on that."

"Okay," Hanna gives in, "I just want you to know that you can always talk to me."

"I know, Hanna," Emily smiles lightly as she pulls into the motel parking lot, "I'm probably going out to dinner later with my mom or something. I was going to see if you and the girls wanted to come."

"Umm," Hanna pauses for a couple seconds, "let me see if my mom needs me for anything and I'll get back to you on that okay?"

"Okay," Emily turns the car off, "Tell your mom welcome home and give her a hug for me."

* * *

Paige sighs heavily as she throws some more disgusting cups into the big trash bag in her hand. The place really isn't that bad for having a house full of stupid high school kids for a party. She hasn't come across any vomit yet, thank god. She takes a sit on the living room couch and pulls her phone out of her pants to call Caleb.

"Hey, are you busy right now?" She asks as soon as he picks up the phone.

"No, I just finished breakfast and Hanna is spending time with her mom, at home of course. What's up?"

"Do you want to come up to my aunt's lake house for a bit and keep me company when I clean up?" She anxiously knots her fingers into her sweatpants.

"Isn't Emily there?" He questions confused.

"She left," she whispers dejectedly.

"Oh," Caleb over emphasizes, obviously understanding, "I'll leave now. I'll be there in like twenty."

"Thanks," she says softly, "I'll see you soon."

When Caleb got there, he insisted on helping clean up the rest of the mess, to make it go faster. Paige grabs a two left over beers from the fridge and walks out onto the mini pier, where Caleb is sitting with his feet over the edge of the lake.

"Thanks," he smiles when she hands him the beer and sits down next to him. "Did something happen last night?"

"Besides Jenna almost drowning last night, Emily and I had a….," she stopped. _What was it? A fight? A disagreement?_ She honestly has no idea. "A hard conversation I guess that hasn't seem to gone well."

Caleb frowns then takes a sip of beer, "Do you mind if I ask what it was about?"

"I don't even really know," Paige breathes out and runs her finger along the rim of the beer can. "She got here and was really angry with me because I didn't tell the swim coach that she was injured. Then she was sitting out here by herself and was asking me why I was pushing swimming so hard." She sucks in a deep breath as tears start to rebuild in her eyes, the conversation breaking her heart, again. It was barely over twelve hours ago that her and Emily were almost sitting in these exact spots having that horrible conversation. "I told her why and she just cried. I don't want to be 3000 miles away from her. It'll hurt too bad," she shakes her head, desperately trying to keep the tears away. "Then we had a disagreement about the Jenna thing after everyone cleared out. Emily was convinced she was hit in the head, I questioned it. Like always. She could've easily fallen in herself. I came back to bed and I'm pretty sure she pretended to be asleep so she wouldn't have to talk to me." A few tears escape down her face, she turns her face away, not wanting Caleb to see her cry like this.

"I think," Caleb starts delicately, "That Emily is hurting because she can't swim. She probably got her hopes up and was let down again. A has done that to her and the other girls. She unfortunately took it out on you, Hanna has done the same to me." He gazes out across the lake at the houses in the distance. "She probably doesn't want to be far away from you either. I think she's just hurting, a lot. As for the Jenna incident, I don't know that much about it. Toby texted me about it late last night. But, Emily isn't actually upset with you over that. It's everything else."

Paige takes a large swig of the beer, hoping that it will take this edge off a little bit. "It's just…what if we go to separate colleges and she's still being harassed by A and I can't be there to support her. I'll feel so fucking helpless and terrible. Or what if we go to separate colleges and she finds someone else?"

"That won't happen…" Caleb shakes his head.

"Have you seen Emily? She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life, word gets out that she's gay and everyone is going to be all over her," she whimpers in defeat. Wherever Emily goes, a bunch of stunning girls are bound to follow and somehow they will happen to be into girls. Emily will get lonely and forget about her once she meets one of the lucky contenders.

Caleb chuckles quietly, "I have seen Emily and I have also seen you guys together. She loves you, lots. And you're a catch too, Paige. Don't sell yourself short."

Paige smiles weakly at him and runs her fingers through her hair.

"As for A," he continues, "We will put an end to it before we all leave Rosewood. I won't let those girls lose their college years also."

She nods, tears still trickle down her face slowly. Then she leans her head against Caleb's shoulder, feeling emotionally drained. "Thanks for coming," she mumbles.

He finishes the last couple sips of his beer, "Always. Me, you and Toby gotta stick together. It's the only way we will stay sane."


End file.
